Earlier this year Science Debate 2008, a group trying to put together a debate among presidential candidates devoted exclusively to science policy, issued a set of 14 questions to the campaigns of John McCain and Barack Obama that they hoped to get answered in lieu of an actual debate. One of those 14 dealt with space:
11. Space. The study of Earth from space can yield important information about climate change; focus on the cosmos can advance our understanding of the universe; and manned space travel can help us inspire new generations of youth to go into science. Can we afford all of them? How would you prioritize space in your administration?
Both campaigns have now answered those questions, but on the topic of space don’t really offer any new insights. The Obama campaign, which responded a couple weeks ago, said he “will establish a robust and balanced civilian space program” that includes both human and robotic space exploration as well as Earth sciences and aeronautics; the response also discusses his plan to reestablish the National Aeronautics and Space Council as a way to prioritize space. The McCain campaign, which just responded over the weekend, provided a response almost word-for-word identical to the campaign’s existing space policy document. The one difference is the lead paragraph:
The real question is whether we can afford not to. We must ensure that we have a balanced approach to our space investments along with proper management controls. Today, we rely more upon our space based assets than at any other time in history. We need the technological advances of these systems to effectively address tremendous challenges such as climate change. Failure to properly address these problems will have devastating effects on the future of the planet.
Speaking of presidential politics and space policy, in this week’s issue of The Space Review Adrian Brown offers some suggestions to a prospective Obama Administration on space issues. Among his suggestions: transfer some funding from defense to the “space-industrial complex”, using that extra funding to accelerate the exploration program with the goal of returning humans to the Moon by 2016, and creating a new NASA center (preferably in the southwestern US) focused on promoting the commercialization of space. On the last point, though, one response I saw this morning was to the effect that current growth in the NewSpace industry is taking place because NASA is not playing a major role, not in spite of it.
Some useless information for you, just for fun:
When pasted into MS Word, the Obama policy has the following:
5499 words
19 paragraphs
196 sentences
12.2 sentences per paragraph
27.9 words per sentence
12% passive sentences
15.6 Fleisch-Kincaid reading level
The McCain answers have the following:
5798 words
15 paragraphs
225 sentences
16 sentences per paragraph
25.7 words per sentence
12% passive sentences
14.3 Fleisch-Kincaid reading level
ADRIAN BROWN: President Obama should open a new NASA center, perhaps in New Mexico or Nevada, dedicated to the commercialization of space.
Dr. Brown’s intent is good, so I don’t want to beat him up, but he really should talk to some people who have expertise in the commercial space industry before proposing solutions (like the one he does).
Maybe his idea would make sense, with one *small* modification.
We already have center for space commercialization in the Department of Commerce (DOC). Take every single dollar it would take to open this new NASA center, and give it to the DOC Office of Space Commercialization to support the growth of the commercial space industry.
FWIW,
– Al
Why did Dr. Brown make his suggestions only to an Obama presidency? I didn’t find anything in them that could not be implemented by whoever wins the White House in this (or any later) cycle, especially given that the McCain campaign is also pushing for/selling itself on the idea of change in Washington.
Perhaps the answer is revealed in the typo (or was it intended as not-so-subliminal influence advertising?) contained in the first sentence: “…Senator Obama WILL be inaugurated…” [my emphasis]. Wishful thinking on your part, Dr. Brown?