Subtle partisan differences in space policy

One bit of conventional wisdom about public support for NASA is that the agency has broad bipartisan support. A USA Today/Gallup Poll released today confirms that notion to first order, although does show some slight differences. Respondents were asked to rate how well NASA was performing (excellent, good, “only fair”, poor, no opinion), what should […]

When in doubt, blame NASA budget cuts

An article by Technology Review magazine covers what is familiar ground for most readers here: the cutbacks in NASA’s science budget and the resulting cancellations and delays in various programs. However, in its zeal to cover all the programs—big and small, high priority and low—affected by the cuts, the article goes a little too far:

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Earth science and NASA

An editorial in yesterday’s Boston Globe raises a key question about NASA and the projects it should undertake. The editorial, based on an article that appeared in the Globe last Friday, argues that NASA should be spending more, not less, on Earth sciences programs:

Trips to the moon or Mars, which the president also favors, […]

The “business case” for the Vision

AIAA is organizing a lunchtime seminar on Capitol Hill on June 12 on the topic “Making the Business Case for Space – Where’s the Value?” The “business case” here is not so much a commercial business case but instead how to sell the public on the importance of NASA and the exploration vision. As the […]

Looking at the “Goldin Days” through rose-colored glasses?

In an essay in the June issue of the Space Foundation newsletter Spacewatch, Space Foundation president and CEO Elliot Pulham says it’s time to give former NASA administrator Dan Goldin credit for “rebuilding NASA’s Mars exploration strategy” after the failures of two Mars missions in 1999. Pulham writes: “By the late 1990s, Goldin had inherited […]

GAO takes on the DSN

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued Monday a report highly critical of NASA’s maintenance of the Deep Space Network (DSN), the system of ground stations used to transmit to and receive data from a variety of NASA spacecraft. In a study requested by Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO), the GAO found that the DSN’s three ground […]

Space Studies Board speaks out on NASA’s space science programs

The Space Studies Board released a report this morning on NASA’s science programs, concluding that the agency is trying to do too much with too little money. “There is a mismatch between what NASA has been assigned to do and the resources with which it has been provided,” committee chairman Len Fisk said in press […]

Griffin and the scientists

NASA administrator Mike Griffin is certainly going to get some feedback from the scientific community this week regarding what the agency’s funding priorities should be for its science programs. Space News reports that the science subcommittee of the recently reconstituted NASA Advisory Council will meet this week at the University of Maryland. That meeting, scheduled […]

Griffin reaffirms his support for COTS

NASA administrator Mike Griffin has long spoken favorably of the agency’s plans to support development of commercial resupply services for the ISS, and according to an article in this week’s Aviation Week his support shows no sign of flagging:

To help make that happen, Griffin has taken a personal interest in keeping a $500-million funding […]

Is Glenn fighting for its survival?

An editorial in the Cleveland Plain Dealer is concerned about the future of NASA’s Glenn Research Center. Interestingly, the focus of its ire is less on NASA headquarters or Congress than on Glenn’s leadership itself, which the paper’s editors believe are not doing enough to promote the center:

It’s hard to escape the feeling that […]