Sleepwalking Through Space Policy At NASA
International Space Station Operations Formally Extended Through 2030
“NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced today the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to extend International Space Station (ISS) operations through 2030, and to work with our international partners in Europe (ESA, European Space Agency), Japan (JAXA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Canada (CSA, Canadian Space Agency), and Russia (State Space Corporation Roscosmos) … “
Amid tension with Russia, Biden administration wants to extend the life of the International Space Station, Washington Post
“Earlier this year, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, told CNN that it was committed to the station. “This is a family, where a divorce within a station is not possible,” he said.”
Ukraine tensions: Putin tells Biden new sanctions could rupture ties, BBC
“Russia’s Vladimir Putin has warned his US counterpart Joe Biden that imposing new sanctions over Ukraine could lead to a complete breakdown in relations. In a phone call late on Thursday, the Russian president said such sanctions would be a “colossal mistake”. Mr Biden, meanwhile, told Mr Putin that the US and its allies would respond decisively to any invasion of Ukraine.”
Keith’s note: Am I the only one who thinks it was just a little strange that the White House waited until late in the day on New Year’s Eve – probably the slowest news day in the entire year where no one is really paying attention – to announce this? Why bury it like this? They couldn’t have announced it before Christmas when maybe a few more people were paying attention? Just a few weeks ago NASA announced three large contracts to explore commercial follow-ons to the ISS – in addition to another already in place. Continuity anyone?
You’d think that someone was thinking about how to knit this all together into a cohesive policy. Guess again. Space Team Biden seems to have no idea how to roll out its own good news these days via NASA or anywhere else. After all, they rented child actors when no actual human children could be found for a photo op with the VP. The National Space Council still exists. Hooray. What does it do? No one seems to know. Or care.
But on to the bigger picture. This whole 2030 thing sounds a little hollow given current events. Happy talk squirted out on a news graveyard day while people elsewhere are building tinderboxes that could make it all moot – during an unrelenting global pandemic. Up until now the ISS has managed to escape nearly all collateral damage from terrestrial politics – to its credit. Maybe the way that we seem to be able to work together in space with our almost-enemies can teach us something about how to get along better on Earth. Small wonder that many people think that the ISS program is worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize. Oddly, despite Earthly brinksmanship politics, we can work with Russia up there. But due to the same ground-based politics we can’t work with China with whom things are equally dysfunction and out of whack. Am I missing something?
With everything in perpetual and instantly-accelerated crazy mode these days, these throwaway buzz words by Nelson, Rogozin et al could be eclipsed in a moment by events spiraling out of control in Ukraine. Or Taiwan. Or both. Its almost as if the staffers who wrote this stuff do not read the actual news about the actual world. But there’s no reason to not try and be optimistic at a time when optimism is in such short supply. Maybe space can do that. If NASA and this Administration truly do see the value in an expanded, inclusive, and global human presence in space – and that perhaps this operates on a higher plane than the politics of the day – then perhaps they could say so more prominently and more often – in context with reality.
My point? Not a new one. NASA has an astonishing brand presence with a global reach. Yet they barely understand the true nature of this untapped soft power resource at their disposal or how to use it – domestically or internationally. Moreover, NASA PAO recycles the same tired talking points about the value of the space station that I put on Powerpoint charts at NASA 30 years ago. NASA is perpetually out of touch with what the real world sees as important and think that pretty space pictures are the answer to public disinterest. Newsflash: the only people paying attention to Webb right now are a dozen or so space reporters. No pretty pictures.
Anyway, this latest rant of mine is all pointless since, when it comes to interacting with the external world, NASA only has transmitters and no receivers. That said, in my regular refrain, if NASA does not take its own programs seriously enough to pay attention then why should anyone else?
I can’t wait to see how NASA responds to an orbital Starship flight while their SLS sits in the VAB waiting for broken parts to be replaced.
Agree. ? %. When Starship / Super Heavy flies, SLS will be done or, at least we can hope. Maybe the VAB will be leased and overhauled by SpaceX for use of all four bays to assemble the Starship/Super Heavy stacks. Then again, maybe it will become a museum attraction, or even more disgusting, bulldozed.
The VAB is considered a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark… It sure as hell won’t be bulldozed.
And six of the seven Wonders of the World are no more, for various reasons, some involving human choices. I can easily imagine the VAB being no more even in a few decades’ time; humans can be awfully fickle about artifacts treasured by their predecessors.
I agree with Keith’s note. NASA definitely seems to be taking a back seat and letting others drive, and the Biden Administration has to be about the worst this country has seen in virtually every respect: economy, foreign affairs, energy, science, handling of COVID….NASA and ISS are in cruise mode and hoping that some well foreseen, let alone something unforeseen, won’t upset all of their plans. Space X is set to upset that applecart as soon as a Star Ship flies successfully. At that point they can totally rethink SLS, Orion, Gateway…..
As I recall on Christmas Eve there was another NASAWatch discussion about the uselessness of Orion, SLS and Gateway and someone said they were going to refute this. But in the end he wrote that he was too busy on Christmas Eve to write anything. I suspect he really could not come up with any rationale why NASA needed to continue spending tens of billions of dollars on systems that would not be needed and could not be afforded in the time of Star Ships.
I feel bad for the young people at NASA in human space flight who have never had a chance to make a contribution. And I suspect I will soon feel bad for all the older ‘leadership’ people (NASA’s average age is like 50 years old) most of whom have never achieved much; after all Shuttle was designed and built between 50 and 30 years ago, and ISS was designed and manufactured between 40 and 25 years ago. If it is like Constellation, 15 years ago, likely most will be asked to leave. And Space X average age is like 31, so probably not a lot of jobs for them there.
I think it is ultimately up to NASA to try and figure out what kind of role they think they will play in the future. If NASA thinks they will compete with industry by operating spaceships or by building them, they will lose, as they are now with Space X. It is the point of this discussion, what is NASA’s role or do they just sleepwalk into the future?
“I think it is ultimately up to NASA to try and figure out what kind of role they think they will play in the future.”
I agree to a point, but I think that question really needs to expand to “What role will the US government play in future space activities?”
Space is more than just NASA. We already have a Space Force (Not trying to start a debate about that), and the Commerce dept space activities. Will there need to be a “space FAA” and/or other space bureaucracies? Where else does the USG need to be involved and where can it just let things play out without its “help”? If the government can decide on a role from a top level standpoint, that will go a long way in determining where NASA fits in.
The Biden Administration is bipolar. At the core is a cadre of reasonable Democrats who believe in things like space exploration. However, they’re married to a group of people like so many of those who we here have all met before…those who think that money spent on space is wasteful. Truthfully, projects like SLS feed this myopic view…for purposes of advancing the country’s interests and helping folks in need, maybe some of that could have been better spent. The anti-nationalist fervor among many of those same folks also plays a part.
However, that view really doesn’t apply to the International Space Station. Yes, it is a government program and as such, like any other, it is more expensive that perhaps it needs to be. However, it is an International effort that I still believe in as a means for rival countries to spend money on technology that isn’t designed to kill people and break their stuff. It also feeds the path of innovation for our country in a way that continues to pay quiet but real dividends.
I think that Joe Biden is fully aware, and proud, of the important part that the International Space Station plays in the future of innovation in this country and peace in the world. Bill Nelson definitely knows. They just announce good news about it quietly hoping that certain other folks in their caucus, and their cheerleaders among the public, don’t notice to quickly.
And given the trends in politics today, it is probably a good thing, the same goes for JWST sadly.
We will continue to crow in our respective spheres as we watch the ISS work through 2030 to support the growing Commercial Space race, and as we watch the JWST blossom…because few people listen to us anyway.
All the best wishes for the new year.
Maybe this one’ll be different ?
Well said Keith. And I agree with you 100 percent
From the political perspective, the reason why it was buried on a Friday night is simply because their polls are bad enough already without adding more fuel to the 6:00 news.
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