NASA « Space Politics

Saving a nonexistent $100 billion

By Jeff Foust on 2009 January 6 at 7:49 am ET

Did you know that “The U.S. government is planning to spend $100 billion on the international space station over the next several years”? So claims Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily in an editorial today. Of course, he’s slipped a decimal point or two in his calculations: $100 billion is about six years of NASA’s entire budget […]

A newspaper endorsement for Griffin

By Jeff Foust on 2009 January 3 at 9:21 am ET

At times, the effort by supporters of NASA administrator Mike Griffin to keep him in office has the flavor of a political campaign: petition drives, email appeals for support, etc. Now add another element to the mix: editorials in major newspapers. Saturday’s Philadelphia Inquirer features an editorial about Griffin, arguing that he should be retained, […]

Weekend food for thought

By Jeff Foust on 2009 January 2 at 7:33 pm ET

Space News is published every Monday, but the preceding Friday they post some of their top stories online. And it looks like Monday’s issue will have some interesting items: [subscription should not be required for these links, but the links will only be good for a week]

Extending the life of the shuttle from 2010 […]

New Years roundup

By Jeff Foust on 2009 January 2 at 8:24 am ET

You might think that the New Years holiday might be a quiet period for space policy, but there are a few items of note this morning:

As you’ve likely already heard, the lobbying effort by supporters of current NASA administrator Mike Griffin has gone to new heights (or new depths, depending on your point of […]

Ares 1, EELV, and a conference presentation

By Jeff Foust on 2008 December 30 at 7:42 am ET

Those who have been following NASA’s exploration architecture know there’s been a long-running debate about whether the Ares 1 launch vehicle under development is really a better alternative than a derivative of the Atlas 5 or Delta 4 EELVs. That discussion has become more prominent in recent weeks, given the pending change in administrations, continuing […]

Armstrong: transition team should not make decisions on Constellation

By Jeff Foust on 2008 December 27 at 11:02 am ET

Saturday’s Wall Street Journal features a letter to the editor from none other than Neil Armstrong, in response to an article from earlier this month about deliberations President-elect Obama’s transition team is making on the future of NASA’s exploration architecture. (Both links may require a WSJ.com subscription.) Armstrong seems particularly concerned that the transition team […]

Does Mike Griffin need a fan club?

By Jeff Foust on 2008 December 24 at 4:00 pm ET

Evidently some people think so. As the Discovery News blog Free Space reported today, former astronaut and associate administrator for exploration Scott Horowitz has created an online petition calling for Griffin to be retained as NASA administrator. The key paragraph from the petition:

Dr. Michael Griffin is one of the most technically and managerially […]

Wait, we thought Griffin was Spock…

By Jeff Foust on 2008 December 19 at 6:59 am ET

Evidently, when it comes to Constellation, Florida Today believes that Obama is, well, Spock-ier.

Shuttle, spending, and state cuts

By Jeff Foust on 2008 December 16 at 3:52 pm ET

I’ve been on travel the last couple of days so I my time has been limited. I did want to point out a few recent articles of note:

Several local officials from Florida’s Space Coast met with President-elect Obama’s NASA transition team last week in Washington, in particular to discuss shuttle retirement and the effect […]

Cooke on change and the blogosphere

By Jeff Foust on 2008 December 13 at 3:02 pm ET

Friday’s speaker at the Space Transportation Association luncheon on Capitol Hill was Doug Cooke, making one of his first public speeches in his new role as associate administrator for exploration systems at NASA. Cooke’s speech was largely devoted to the highlights of the last year and the plans for the coming year for the various […]

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