There is much speculation and hope that President Obama will be nominating a NASA administrator soon. However, a recent report by the Orlando Sentinel has me concerned, and many in the space industry, up in arms, over the fact a group of Senators quashed one of the choices who is well respected in the industry. Below is a letter I sent to Senator Nelson
Dear Senator Nelson,
My name is ***** ********, although I blog at various places under the pseudonym Ferris Valyn. I write to you as a member of the Democratic Party, and also as a space activist, who wants us to become a spacefaring society. I was thrilled with Senator Obama’s proposed space policy, and at the invitation of a friend, even helped to craft a short piece for the Change.gov website, which can be read at http://tinyurl.com/... and http://tinyurl.com/... .
I write to you because I want to see us become a spacefaring society – one in which space, and its resources/utilities/products are directly accessible to the average person. While we aren’t there yet, I have hope that we can position ourselves to make this happen, and that this dream not be relegated to some distant and nebulous future, but can happen within our lifetime, provided we have a solid plan, and competent leaders, who are focused on achieving the goal of becoming spacefaring, and whose hands aren’t restrained by narrow special interests. In developing this plan, there are 5 questions that need solid answers. These are:
- Is there a clear logical and measurable progression, that leads to an endpoint of humanity expanding away from the Earth in a self-perpetuating and sustainable fashion?
- Is the plan fiscally realistic?
- Is it politically realistic?
- Does it promote commercial off-planet opportunities that require a large space presence?
- Do they represent realistic engineering?
Many people are actively calling on President Obama to nominate a NASA administrator, and the list of potential nominees, as reported by the media, includes Gen. Lester Lyles, Gen. Charles Bolden, Mr. Steve Isakowitz, Gen. Scott Gration, and Dr. Lennard Fisk. A recent Orlando Sentinel article stated that
According to Washington insiders and Hill staff, a group of lawmakers led by Florida’s Democratic senior Senator Bill Nelson are taking credit for pushing Isakowitz out of the picture.
Whether or not Mr. Isakowitz is the best choice, the selection of the next NASA administrator cannot be simply about local area interests, but must consider the larger issues, related to the question of whether we want to remain a largely earth based society, that occasionally has a few people visit space, or if we will have a truly spacefaring society. For far too long, NASA has merely been a political pork program, but it can be so much more. And for that to happen, we need a NASA administrator who doesn’t just look for lofty rhetoric, and talks about the heroics of NASA astronauts, but can provide clear, measurable steps that take the individual person to the stars. And for that to happen, we need elected officials who can be statesman for space policy, and don’t emulate the previous presidency, which many times embraced political graft.
Senator, I implore you to be the statesman, and look not just to protect local jobs, but also to truly push society to becoming spacefaring, within our lifetimes. This is the wise and honorable course.
