NASA Must Regain Its Mojo
Keith’s note: NASA’s budget is going to be slashed one way or another. Despite all the talk about making NASA more focused – or efficient – or “greater”, NASA science will suffer. Scores of missions will either be canceled, shutdown, or put on indefinite pause. Meanwhile Europe and our officially designated foe China surge ahead to fill gaps that we have created. NASA has yet to find the secret sauce wherein they can walk and chew gum at the same time. i.e. do astonishing things that no one has done before while conveying the scientific value of these accomplishments to decision makers and simultaneously, the practical, everyday utility to people and families as they try and make it through their daily lives. For what it is worth, as I have noted before: NASA has led space science and “Made America Great In Space” for more than half a century. Let’s not let that science leadership fade. Let’s expand it further. This won’t happen on its own. NASA must get its act together, find its mojo again, and put forth the multiple reasons why we should use and explore space – tailored to the various audiences who need – and deserve – to be informed. One size does not fit all. While NASA needs to learn how to explain itself to citizens and policymakers, how it explains its accomplishments on the global stage should be simple. Very simple – since NASA has led the way by:
- touching the sun
- visiting every planet in our solar system
- discovering over 6,000 planets orbiting other stars
- launched the first weather and Earth resource satellites
- sending humans to walk on another world
- doing the first offworld search for life
- moving an asteroid
- finding water on the Moon and Mars
- discovering oceans inside icy moons
- sailing across interstellar space
- peering back to the dawn of the universe
- developing a global brand that all nations aspire to
10 responses to “NASA Must Regain Its Mojo”
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There’s no coming back now. Not for decades and immense effort. The damage is done. When we needed our leadership to stop selling it out to private industry for the last 3-4 decades and let younger people with more fire to fight take over, they refused to pass the torch. Then when we actually needed strong leadership to help protect what was left, they all resigned. Nothing left but to circle the drain now.
Things are certainly dark and getting darker but this is not the time to give up hope.
I feel you. But it’s getting harder day by day not to give up that hope.
Dude…my guess is that you wish what you wrote was not true but you were being honest. I think a lot of us think the same thing, having experienced ineffective management, extreme uncertainty, silence. All the tactics being used even by internal managers are the same tactics as abusers…I don’t think they are even doing it consciously. They do not have the skills to lead through this.
Keeping your head down and pretending things are ok is not the way. Standing up will get your head cut off. There is nothing left but to lose yourself. I wish this was not so Keith, but a dysfunctional NASA will change the wonderful people who work there before they ever change it. It is time to save sanity, not continue to live through it.
The change has already started, sadly.
A standard, nominal, science PR campaign doesn’t work under fascism. General political resistance is required but not guaranteed to be effective or quick. Expect generational damage to the USA and massive damage to our environment. I feel for our children and grandchildren.
Things are not pretty, I agree, but to throw up our hands and give up, just let the b*stards win, is not the answer.
My point is the battle is much bigger than nice Science PR. It requires political resistance across the board.
I may be very pessimistic but I don’t believe in giving up. But I recognize that in the US some battles take generations…Jim Crow took about a century to overcome (and we are still fighting those battles in a way).
We can’t give up the battle for a healthy environment, but every day spews more into the atmosphere.
Did you even read what I wrote? Yes the battle is much bigger than nice Science PR
Peace!