One bright spot in American politics is that space policy has avoided becoming a partisan political issue. The Biden administration The previous Trump administration approved both a Space Force and the Artemis program to return to the moon, making the continuity of space policy during two very different presidencies both surprising and gratifying.
But the bipartisan nature of space policy may be changing.
The question now seems to be emerging not of what space policy should be, but of how it will be implemented. Eric Trump, the son and surrogate mother of former President Donald Trump, said: A volley of shots was launched On the final night of the Democratic National Convention, on Jesse Watters' Fox News show.
“Kamala Harris is the chair of the National Space Council and Boeing can’t get one of their rockets. [International Space Station] The astronauts are trapped in there and will need Elon Musk to rescue them.”
Eric Trump made a gaffe. Harris National Space CouncilThere is no National Space Commission. The National Space Commission was convened after the Challenger disaster. Deciding on a future path of the American space program.
Harris is not directly responsible Starliner disaster Two American astronauts were stranded on the International Space Station for much longer than originally planned, with the direct blame being placed on Boeing, which had quality control issues with the Starliner, and NASA, which failed to provide adequate oversight.
Still, Harris is Biden's director of space policy and must be held accountable for policy failures under the Biden administration.
NASA decided to return astronauts to space in February using Crew Dragon, and then use Starliner as a separate, unmanned spacecraft. Boeing has committed to resolving Starliner's issues and providing the redundancy NASA requires for traveling astronauts to and from the ISS.
Still, the Starliner issues and possible delays to the Artemis program Orion spacecraft heat shield problems — could be an attractive target for the Trump campaign.
Harris' campaign has been aggressive in promoting her role as chair of the National Space Council. Space Prioritized In her nomination acceptance speech. It is mentioned briefly in the Democratic Party platform. In the paragraph on manufacturing.
The strangest space-related event from the Harris campaign was a self-described “ Harris AstronautThe diverse group included former astronauts, scientists, engineers, a Star Trek actor, two former NASA administrators, and “Science Guy” Bill Nye. Some in attendance likened Harris to Star Trek characters like Captain Kathryn Janeway and Lieutenant Niyota Uhura. It's clear that Harris, if elected, will be guiding the future of Star Trek.
If the Trump campaign wants to make space a campaign issue, they should tread carefully. Space has become a bipartisan issue thanks in large part to the efforts of NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. If they criticize Trump too harshly on his space efforts, Democrats may hesitate to support his space policies if he is re-elected.
Instead, Trump should emphasize the positive.Project ArtemisandSpace Force.Forbes names BridenstineThis is one of the best decisions he has ever made as NASA administrator.
Indeed, the former and future president should be thanking Biden and Harris for adopting his space policy, a typical display of generosity that will likely annoy Democrats.
Trump should clean up the commercial space mess left by the Starliner fiasco and promise that two commercial spacecraft will fly Americans to orbit and back by the end of his term, and that by the end of his term, an American lunar lander will land on the moon's surface before China does.
Trump said: Biden-Harris Mandated DEI Policy NASA has rules that condition funding for science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medical research grants on diversity statements and equity requirements that have little to do with the merits of the projects. Academic whistleblowers argue that such requirements threaten American competitiveness and national security.
If space is a political issue, it should be a positive issue that promises a better future.
Mark R. Whittington:Why is it so hard to get back to the Moon?“Similarly”The Moon, Mars and Beyond” and more recently “Why is America returning to the Moon?He runs a blogThe mean guy's corner.
