Fwd: John Kelly: NASA needs to make some quick decisions

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: August 4, 2013 2:27:20 PM GMT-06:00
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: John Kelly: NASA needs to make some quick decisions

FLORIDA TODAY Aug. 3, 2013 11:56 PM 

 

John Kelly: NASA needs to make some quick decisions

Written by

John Kelly

 

 

The United States' human spaceflight program, and the future of the Kennedy Space Center, hinge on decisions that need to be made very soon. Three jump out as the most important:

 

1. Will the U.S. extend the International Space Station project beyond its currently planned retirement in 2020? There's no definitive plan for paying the bills to operate the space station to 2025, even though many in the industry talk as though that's a sure thing. Currently, a long-term funding profile on the books for NASA doesn't include enough money to keep the station operational beyond then.

 

All indications so far are that the space station could fly beyond 2020, and be home to a permanent crew and an outpost for science and engineering research for the U.S. and its international partners. However, decisions need to be made soon so that the U.S. and its partners can afford to do so.

 

If an international station isn't operational then, that raises questions about the purpose of the commercial crew program to seed development of private human transports to low-Earth orbit.

 

That innovative effort could be stunted if those involved fear there won't be many flights to a space station as a fiscal incentive for their efforts.

 

2. Where are NASA astronauts going next? There's allegedly soft support within the space agency for going to an asteroid. There seems to be even less support in Congress, from which NASA's money flows.

 

The moon or Mars do get people more excited, but apparently not excited enough for Congress to provide the cash infusion necessary to make such missions feasible in the next decade or so.

 

Picking exploration targets has been a sticking point since the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster prompted one of the hardest looks at NASA's purpose since its inception. A firm decision seems elusive still. Ask different people at NASA where its astronauts are going next and you will not get the same answer. Someone has to lead, decide and set the agency on a clear course soon.

 

3. Is the U.S. committed to private innovation in human flights? The commercial crew project, a budding effort to spur innovation with a relatively small amount of government seed money, can succeed. But, members of Congress and the White House keep chipping away at the funding. It's counter-productive.

 

Any objective look at return on investment in the commercial cargo program would indicate repeating that process for crews is a good bet for taxpayers' money.

 

That will prove important not only for the agency and overall innovation for the space sector, but also for Kennedy Space Center, which is the home base for the commercial crew project.

 

 

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