The Bean Counter and the Moon Walker: Pathways to Space Vision – Part 1

A convergence of sorts is approaching in Washington that will shape the space policies of the remaining half of George W. Bush’s presidency. One element of that is the administration of Sean O’Keefe, as he sets about realigning NASA priorities once he takes office as administrator early in 2002. More about that in part two of this series.

Another element will be the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of the Aerospace Industry. Headed by Bush advisor former Pennsylvania Congressman and House Science Committee Chair Bob Walker, the commission has a two-fold task: craft a policy framework on the immediate term that can bolster aviation and space in the United States. And secondly, look out to century’s end and “see” what a healthy aerospace industry would look like, moving backward to establish goals and spending priorities across the next nine decades.

The commission is believed to have a better-than-average chance of actually making policy instead of making pretty report covers. The reason is both the nature of its chair- a policy wonk unusually wise in the ways of Washington- as well as the vacuum that has passed for space interest since that cold and wet Saturday when Bush became the nation’s chief executive. Simply put, the Bush team, in the form of vice-president Dick Cheney- has told Walker that absent any other policy mechanism during the next year, his committee’s work will be fast-tracked towards implementation.

In other words, if Walker’s group “builds” a reasoned policy and budget framework to come to the aid of the nation’s aerospace interests, “they”-the administration -will set it into motion. And in this mix of retired bureaucrats, labor leaders, and educators the second American to walk upon the Moon is finding support for a refreshed U.S. civil space goal. It is important to understand where Buzz Aldrin and the Aerospace Commission may be heading in space, because the path their ideas clear may be followed by Sean O’Keefe’s budgeteers. At least, in a post-Core complete era, should it ever come.

The commission is looking heavily at the aero part of aerospace, but space itself is a major element of its concerns. Primarily, though not exclusively, issues related to access: space launch, spaceports, and space transportation needs. It is what Walker has called a “cross-cutting” issue, one that runs through several seemingly unrelated areas. Space, in this viewpoint, is part of an industry that has stagnated as the 21st Century begins. “Space launch capability is manpower intensive, viewed as globally non-competitive,” one of the study teams has said. Facilities where the U.S. embarks for what is supposed to be a great adventure “are aging, under-utilized, and in need of modernization.

And that’s the good news.

Some 27 percent of all aerospace manufacturing in the U.S. are of space vehicles, according to data assembled by commissioners John Douglass and Neil deGrasse Tyson. R&D funding, both civil and military space, has plummeted across the last decade, they say. So they have set for their team a series of important space reviews. These include: