Yet Another Space Policy Bill
Reps. Culberson, Wolf, Posey and Olson introduce the Space Leadership Act
“On Thursday, Reps. John Culberson (TX-07), Frank Wolf (VA-10), Bill Posey (FL-15), and Pete Olson (TX-22) will announce the introduction of the Space Leadership Act that will change business as usual at NASA and result in a more stable and more accountable space program. Rep. Lamar Smith (TX-21), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is also an original cosponsor of the bill.”
1. What strategy are they going for?
2. What does the bill say?
3. This close to the election, does the bill have any change of getting past?
Folks:
They probably spent more time formulating, discussing & focus grouping the name then they did on any policy decision.
tinker
“result in a more stable and more accountable space program.“
Translation: An even more micro-managed existence which we can obstruct more readily and keep firmly mired in the time-honored cost-plus aerospace world that has cost America so much. Rejoice America; your Congress in ever vigilant in assuring future pork and protecting you from the dangers of commercial space.
Do I have any facts to back this up? No. Anyone care to suggest that I’m too far wrong?
And all four of the bill’s sponsors are Republicans, so you just know that this bill, if passed, will take more money away from NASA, and specifically NASA SAAs and other “new space” commercial programs. I nominate Rep. Wolf for this year’s Joseph McCarthy award; he’s earned it.
Steve
It will be a joy to read this, the Space Leadership Act. Just the title in itself suggests: There is no leadership today, so lets write a bill to establish some leadership. Pretty funny, unless you’re an American.
As for your translation Steve, my take is mixed, let’s see what the bill says. The phrase “result in a more stable and more accountable space program” is equally suggestive: that today our space programs are unstable and lack accountability and they require bills to get the proper controls in place.
Over 1/2 a century doing space stuff, yet the Nation and leadership wallow in quagmires of fits and starts and inefficiencies. Everyone sees it. Lots of gradiose solutions chanted by self-declared brilliant folks in the bleachers, but no one has a comprehensive, written, diagrammed, viable solution that passes the giggle test and serious review.
http://www.chron.com/defaul…
Comments about the contents of the bill, and about the likelihood that it will be passed, by a source with some insight.
Helen:
Thanks for the link!
Ah, so if they take NASA’s fiscal control away from the president’s Office of Management and Budget, NASA would be depoliticized? I suppose it would eliminate that awful dickering between the White House and Congress and put complete budgetary control in the hands of… wait for it… members of the House Appropriations committee! It really doesn’t matter what other policy changes they make if they get their way because they’ll already have control over the purse strings. Brilliant.
tinker
It seems to me that if you split NASA’s functions, you could get away with multi-year funding and administration for much of it. Except for the major contracted programs, the flagships, where you still need oversight. (Too easy for a bad program or a bad Admin to cause damage.)
Spin off a stand alone aeronautics and space research agency, operating on a multi-year budget & admin. Intended to provide long-lead-in technologies for NASA, commercial aerospace, and commercial aviation. The bulk of the new agency would be the purely internal R&D, but either a major division, or an independent agency, would handle the external R&D currently funded by NASA.
Additionally, spin off the HSF operations arm into its own agency, to run the ISS, and handle things like COTS/CC. This could also be funded and run on a multi-year basis.
That leaves you with the “missions” arms of NASA, the new projects and current missions, both manned and unmanned, internal and external. Everything from SLS to the smallest Earth-science mission. This would be the only US space agency funded and run as NASA is now, although you could multi-year some of the science missions.
This is going to be a disaster – yet another level of bureaucracy on top of it all.
Reading this… congress still gets control via the “power of the purse”. Moreover, when there is a transition of power between the Rs and the Ds or the Ds and the Rs (we are non partisan) there is going yo be a significant issue.
Fish in a barrel…
READY
AIM
FIRE!
Should be retitled as the “Politicize NASA” Bill – where the House can force NASA to do any crazy thing that enters their mind.
The House will edit science/math/facts … and force NASA to make it work within that reality. Fixes … everything!
We’ll have warp drive and Jesus powering everything in no time!
Ain’t America great.
Can’t wait til they force NASA to set the value of pi to 3…