Use PICA-X

Figure out and then delegate consensus national needs and priorities? Uh, no. The NASA Admin isn’t even an elected official, and his astronaut and engineering training suit those tasks poorly. I don’t want Charlie to figure out what’s important to me, and he doesn’t want to have that responsibility.

“Did I ever say that?”

Lamar Smith said “human spaceflight”, e.g. humans flying in space. That’s who I was talking about. C’mon. This isn’t that hard. I never accused you of saying *anything*, so complaining that I said you did is nonsense.

“Employment is a priority. ARM, SLS/MPCV is precisely addressing that one priority. So now what?”

So now let’s just cut the crap about space exploration and send NASA dollars straight to make-work projects. Let’s build a billion dollar statue of a launch vehicle, and maybe an asteroid amusement park.

“But don’t tell me Charles Bolden does not know the National Priorities.”

Charlie Bolden does not know national priorities. There. I said it. There are think tanks and political machines that argue about national priorities. Charlie knows the basic ones, like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but if he has a deep concept of what the American public really wants, he should run for office. He’s not going to do that. Charlie thinks that fondling an asteroid is a national priority. Need I say more?

Congress and the WH. But I agree NASA does not. NASA MUST follow those priorities though.

“So when Congress asks NASA to come up with a plan, what precisely is the “national priority” that they want NASA to serve?”

Is this not the NASA Admin’s job to figure out and then delegate to his subordinates?

“Flying humans in space?”

Nope. Did I ever say that?

“Give me a break. Hey, but ARM does that, in spades. Bolden should hand Congress a plan to send astronauts out in a straight line past the Moon, where they can tip their hat, and return. There ya go. Flying humans in space. Check that box. Yep, you can even say it’s proving what you need to prove to go to Mars.”

Again I never said that. At all. Not that it matters all that much.

“Oh, the astronauts are supposed to do something useful while flying in space? Fondling an asteroid sounds pretty useful, unless you can explain to me why it isn’t.”

Hmm. Fondling an asteroid? Tss tss tss.

“Also yes, Congress and the WH know perfectly well what they’re doing. They’re asking an agency to comply with national needs and priorities which they haven’t really established themselves. They know very well that, as a result, whatever they fund will turn into a jobs program, because THAT is a national need and priority everyone understands. No mystery there.”

Ah so now you agree with me? I never said the priorities included flying to an asteroid or to Alpha Centauri. But yes. Employment is a priority. ARM, SLS/MPCV is precisely addressing that one priority. So now what?

“No, the relationship between NASA and at least Congress is highly dysfunctional. Congressional expectations from NASA left the Space Act behind long ago.”

Agreed.

But don’t tell me Charles Bolden does not know the National Priorities. Hm? Please.

That’s fine. So let’s blame Congress for not even trying to provide those national needs and priorities themselves. Congress SETS national needs and priorities. NASA does not.

That White House memorandum you point to just supports my point. Agencies are asked to “Clearly identify the standards-based challenges it is encountering in addressing a national priority”. So when Congress asks NASA to come up with a plan, what precisely is the “national priority” that they want NASA to serve? Flying humans in space? Give me a break. Hey, but ARM does that, in spades. Bolden should hand Congress a plan to send astronauts out in a straight line past the Moon, where they can tip their hat, and return. There ya go. Flying humans in space. Check that box. Yep, you can even say it’s proving what you need to prove to go to Mars.

Oh, the astronauts are supposed to do something useful while flying in space? Fondling an asteroid sounds pretty useful, unless you can explain to me why it isn’t.

Also yes, Congress and the WH know perfectly well what they’re doing. They’re asking an agency to comply with national needs and priorities which they haven’t really established themselves. They know very well that, as a result, whatever they fund will turn into a jobs program, because THAT is a national need and priority everyone understands. No mystery there.

No, the relationship between NASA and at least Congress is highly dysfunctional. Congressional expectations from NASA left the Space Act behind long ago.

I think they perfectly know what they are doing.

On the other hand I cannot blame Congress or anyone for that matter to demand a plan that “has to meet national needs and national priorities”. And these are not all that mysterious, especially if you work at/for the WH or Congress. Come on. Right?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2012/m-12-08.pdf

OK, Mr. Smith. Charlie has come up with a mission plan that can be clear and well planned for flying humans in space. Hey, we can fly humans like crazy! There it is. It’s called ARM. What? That’s not good enough? Why?? Oh, it has to meet national needs and national priorities? What are those, do you think? It has to pass the smell test for “exploration”? Gee, it’s about touching a rock. Isn’t that good enough? How is “value” assessed?

If Congress expects NASA to satisfy requests like this, it’s going to take a lot more than engineers, technologists, scientists, and space systems managers to do it. When is Congress (and the White House, for that matter) going to understand that?