Obama's space program

[Urwumpe]

Just found this, and I did not see it discussed here. I think other than it being a 180° turn away from his initial statements, this is also the only real strategy paper published by the two candidates about the future of spaceflight in the USA.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_space_thewritestuff/files/Obama_Space.pdf

I don't know what I have to think about this, as this is also a lot of election campaign stuff and internal US politics are not my strong side, so maybe the US users can evaluate the points better as I can.

I think it is actually not too bad that he identified the problems in the US spaceflight industry correctly, but his solutions have just one thing in common: A huge price tag.

Interesting are also his plans for the ISS...

Completing and Enhancing the International Space Station

The International Space Station is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished through international cooperation. Though we have spent billions to build the station, the microgravity research it was intended to facilitate has fallen victim to funding cuts. Barack Obama would ensure that NASA and other federal agencies are fully utilizing the ISS to conduct research that can help address global challenges such as public health and energy independence and can develop technologies that can provide economic benefits to Earth. Obama also will enable research on the ISS to support long-term human exploration and planetary research needs.

• Partnering to Enhance the Potential of the ISS: Barack Obama will enlist other Federal agencies, industry and academia to develop innovative scientific and technological research projects on the ISS.
• Enabling Human Exploration: Obama will use the ISS for fundamental biological and physical research to understand the effects of long-term space travel on human health and to test emerging
technologies to enable such travel.
• Enhancing International Cooperation: The ISS has been a model for international cooperation to achieve peaceful objectives in space, helping develop positive relations with Russia during the 1990s. America must take the next step and use the ISS as a strategic tool in diplomatic relations with nontraditional partners.
• Retaining Options for Extended Operations: Barack Obama will consider options to extend ISS operations beyond 2016. After investing so much in developing the ISS, it would be a shame not to utilize it to the fullest possible extent.

Insiders will know that he actually just claims the reality of the ISS to be his stategy - he will not have much to say about how long the ISS will orbit, but 2016 is only the earliest date for a EOM...

DISCLAIMER: I can't vote Obama, and I am not member of the US democratic party. Please let me know when Colonel Sanders...I mean, McCain published a similar statement on his space plans.

 

[GregBurch]

DISCLAIMER: I can't vote Obama, and I am not member of the US democratic party. Please let me know when Colonel Sanders...I mean, McCain published a similar statement on his space plans.

Easy enough to find:

http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/issues/7366faf9-d504-4abc-a889-9c08d601d8ee.htm

... and, BTW, since Obama's party is the chief proponent of group rights and identity politics in the U.S., I feel comfortable taking offense at the digs at McCain's age -- being an old guy myself

 

[Urwumpe]

... and, BTW, since Obama's party is the chief proponent of group rights and identity politics in the U.S., I feel comfortable taking offense at the digs at McCain's age -- being an old guy myself

Come on, the current pope was 78 when he got elected, but I guess, for president of the USA and deputy chief executive officer of the catholic church are different jobs. :lol:

EDIT: But what the hell is the ISS national laboratory? They don't really call the whole US Segment a national laboratory, do they?

 

[GregBurch]

But what the hell is the ISS national laboratory? They don't really call the whole US Segment a national laboratory, do they?

This is a proposal to change the government bureaucratic spaghetti bowl that would run the US part of the ISS. The "national laboratory" program is the funding and management system that runs things like Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos. The idea is to get ISS funding out of the NASA funding and management swamp to stabilize its management.

 

[Urwumpe]

This is a proposal to change the government bureaucratic spaghetti bowl that would run the US part of the ISS. The "national laboratory" program is the funding and management system that runs things like Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos. The idea is to get ISS funding out of the NASA funding and management swamp to stabilize its management.

OK, interesting idea, but IMHO it is practically like teaching a fish to use a bicycle. You can make somebody else than NASA responsible for the US experiments onboard the ISS (Each participation nation in the project has share of experiment lockers assigned), but for the ISS operations, you won't find somebody better as NASA in the USA for a long time. NASA operates and developes all infrastructure required for the ISS operations (mission control, TDRSS, astronaut training, currently launch services), so you actually increase the bureaucratical overhead when also the ISS operations get outsourced.


Wouldn't it be smarter to privatize parts of the ISS project after the initial ISS program ends in 2016 and the extended mission starts? Gives the USA still 8 years for preparing such a big step and the partner nations the possibility to do either similar steps or prepare for the changes.

 

[GregBurch]

OK, interesting idea, but IMHO it is practically like teaching a fish to use a bicycle. You can make somebody else than NASA responsible for the US experiments onboard the ISS (Each participation nation in the project has share of experiment lockers assigned), but for the ISS operations, you won't find somebody better as NASA in the USA for a long time. NASA operates and developes all infrastructure required for the ISS operations (mission control, TDRSS, astronaut training, currently launch services), so you actually increase the bureaucratical overhead when also the ISS operations get outsourced.


Wouldn't it be smarter to privatize parts of the ISS project after the initial ISS program ends in 2016 and the extended mission starts? Gives the USA still 8 years for preparing such a big step and the partner nations the possibility to do either similar steps or prepare for the changes.

As I understand the proposal, the National Laboratory program would not have operational day-to-day management in terms of actual station non-science functions, but rather that NASA would be a "contractor" to the NL program for those things. The selling point for the concept is to get umbrella program policy management out of NASA's constant hunt for justification.

The NL program is premised on being this kind of "umbrella" management organization -- each of its facilities has different constituencies, different operational contractors, etc. They've got the experience in long-term science and technology management at that level -- ironically, something NASA is very short on.

One beauty of this concept is that the privatization notion you discuss is completely consistent with the way the NL program works. They're in the business of managing multiple constituencies in the same facilities, including public/private interactions. In this regard, they have the opposite of the "not invented here" mentality that NASA has, since they don't "invent" anything -- they just manage scientific and technology facilities.

 

[Moonwalker]

Obama intends to delay Constellation by cutting funds while he wants to extend the lifetime of the ISS. So he is going to lease Soyuz and depend on Russia and foreign countries right into the third decade of this century. Not a good idea in my irrelevant point view.

Of course he is doing it all for the kids since he wants to fund education all over the USA. Sounds great at first sight. But whenever a politician is talking about doing something for children then it's time to watch out I think...

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/pdf/PreK-12EducationFactSheet.pdf

 

[CitizenPaine]

This article ran on August 19th in the Wasington Post, which had some interesting points concerning the candidates' current plans for NASA's budget.

Of particular interest to me in this election is the issue of space weaponization, which Obama's plan clearly opposes, such as the Stimson Report reccomends.
Does anyone know if McCain has made a definite stance on the issue?

 

[Urwumpe]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/18/AR2008081802171.html
Of particular interest to me in this election is the issue of space weaponization, which Obama's plan clearly opposes, such as the Stimson Report reccomends.

Does anyone know if McCain has made a definite stance on the issue?

I don't know if he said anything about it, but I doubt he will install space weapons as president. It would break more treaties at once, as Bush could ever have broken.

And an arms race in space would really be the worst case for the USA and Europe - our infrastructure depends on space.