Remember the on-again, off-again, sorta-on-sorta-off strategic roadmapping process? A reader notes that some of the fruits of this effort have been released: some of the science roadmap reports have been published on NASA HQ’s web site. These cover topics like Mars exploration, planetary science, astronomy, and the like. Missing, it appears, is the lunar exploration roadmap, as well as those on ISS, space transportation, and other non-science efforts. I have not had a chance to read any of these reports yet, which average about 50-60 pages each, but they do look interesting.
The roadmapping activity was previously reported dead:
http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2005/04/roadmapping_hit.html
Apparently rumors of death were exaggerated…
I guess you missed the previously announced roadmapping meetings which were cancelled – and the meetings which were not yet announced – but were supposed to happen – which will not happen.
No, I did not miss that. They simply canceled some meetings. But you reported that “Mike Griffin killed the roadmapping activity today,” which was clearly inaccurate. After all, if it was killed, NASA would not have released these six finished roadmaps.
Griffin killed it. He stopped it in its tracks within days of being sworn in and put a small team together to take whatever had already been done and condense it into something far less grandiose than was originally intended. Note than none of these ‘reports’ follows the standard common format they were supposed to follow.
Hopefully it the start of of less pushing paper and more bending metal. Then again, i just had two margaritas and having a hopefull mood.
I don’t what these “roadmaps” were supposed to be, but what they are is a lot of feel-good hot air.
“Griffin killed it.”
And yet there they are, released as official NASA documents.
Kathryn: Griffin killed the continuation of the process. Many meetings were cancelled. An elaborate summer review process was scrapped. He told everyone to stop what they were doing and bring what they had already completed and his small team would then come up with a truncated product based on what had been produced – but guided mostly by Griffin’s own plans.
Believe what you wish.