A Grand National Space Strategy Could Save NASA (Op-Ed), Michael Potter, Space.com
“I recently examined the latest NASA Strategic Plan, and I was disappointed that it hardly resembled a plan at all. It reads and feels like a slick year-in-review annual report from a national charity organization. The vision statement reads, “We reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind.” And the mission reads, “Drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, and stewardship of Earth.” There are photographs of STEM outreach to schoolkids and lots of interesting “pieces,” but there’s a lack of a credible coherent vision and mission. The plan seems vaguely aspirational, and does not seem to reflect the basic political and funding realities of a fragmented Congress battling with the White House, or the competing internal interests perceived by other federal agencies.”
NASA’s Strategic Plan Isn’t Strategic – or a Plan, earlier post
“This thing reads like an annual report – there is no “plan” in this strategic plan. The authors are utterly confused as to what a “goal”, “objective”, and “strategy” are and confusingly use the terms interchangeably. It is almost as if they say “it is important that we do what we are doing because we are already doing it”. Also, doing things in a cost-effective and innovative way seems to be some sort of strategic objective preoccupation with the reports’ authors. Well, DUH, you should always do such things in a cost-effective and innovative way as a matter of course in ANY project – government or otherwise – not do so as an end in and of itself.”
More NASA Strategic Plan Vaporware, earlier post
“And now GSFC has taken the time to develop a plan to implement this confusing non-strategic non-plan. I can’t wait to see how they measure their progress.”
This isn’t the national space plan you were looking for. Move along.
At this point, I find it funny to see these kinds of articles. Another talking head stating the obvious. Not that I disagree, but the lack of coherent, concrete national goals in space has been a problem for quite some time and yet another article pointing that out just isn’t news anymore.
or in anything else, really. Space is just one example of the listlessness describing our great nation.
The operative phrase is “Strategic patience.” That’s the strategy and it’s admittedly (according to President Obama) an incomplete strategy.
I have long thought there should be a national space plan. But I am no longer convinced that is a good idea. Perhaps a public plan would stifle private plans of others. Maybe it is best for NASA to react to what others are planning and just find ways they can best use their resources to help.
This morning I am reminded others are making plans.
http://www.usatoday.com/sto…
There is opportunity in chaos @wingod
@dtarsgeorge
Time to go around Congress/NASA. Once commercial cargo, crew, destination are in place and operational the only way to go from there is to start spiraling outward.
But graphics! We got graphics!
I was involved in the late 90’s early 2k’s in this kind of activity when it was really in vogue, the hottest fad of the day. Team members could see back then that regardless of efforts at righting the listing ship, things got worse year after year, eventually devolving into just creating pretty glossy coffee table books, back when printing was still allowed, but full of incoherent ideas. These were plans that were not plans at all. I remember trying to simplify this down to structured processes, how a verb goes here, a noun there, a why, then a what, then a how, etc. I remember briefings where the upper management was clearly annoyed they even had to listen to this.
And here we are.
NASA is just taking a page out of the US military strategic plan:
“If we don’t know what we are doing, the enemy certainly can’t anticipate our future actions”
To be fair to NASA, it may not be possible for them to just outright say, “Barring an increase in our manned exploration budget, all of our funding is going towards ISS, SLS, commercial crew, and what is necessary to support them until after 2025”. We’re not going anywhere because there’s no money and existing manned spaceflight projects.
Personally I am still nonplussed by the complete disengagement with the national space plan as proposed by the Augustine Committee. A decade of developing the technology! Fuel Depots, Ion engines, Deep space stations. Targets as and when. Somehow this has turned back into Constellation Mk II… now with Mars as the destination!
I’m wondering when musk will announce a fuel depot plan. Seems he will have to do it whether or not its a part of MCT
NASA’s “attack everywhere at once” fails to demonstrate wise usage of the tax payer’s dollars. It’s getting harder to find those benefits to mankind as the expenditures increase. The eventual failure of financial support is inevitable, and past performance that is already paid for won’t hold water indefinitely.