NASA on the Backburner
Filed under: Economy, Obama Administration
President Barack Obama said Wednesday that NASA is an agency afflicted by “a sense of drift” and that it needs “a new mission that is appropriate for the 21st century.”Obama said the first priority of a new agency administrator – whom he promised to appoint “soon” – would be “to think through what NASA’s core mission is and what the next great adventures and discoveries are under the NASA banner.”
Until that happens, he said during a session with reporters from the Orlando Sentinel and other regional newspapers, the White House would delay any major policy decisions about the agency.
I’m going to take this as a very strong signal that Obama has given scance thought to NASA, or what he wants them to do. Apparently he sees this as a job for someone he appoints to go in there, figure out a vision and get back to him. I’m all for delegation, but I would think that Obama would be able to give an off the cuff thumbs up/down on going to the moon and/or pressing forward with the shuttle replacement. Both of these projects are ostensibly part of the NASA mission.
…but maybe not depending on who Obama appoints. Hat tip to Space Politics, who notes that Obama’s current messaging is a lot less specific than when he was campaigning, to say the least. One would think that as long as we are spending money stimulating things, that high-tech, high-wage space industry jobs in electoral rich states like Florida would be part of the mix, but what do I know?
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