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Space Policy Now

Space Policy Now. 15 January 2019. Readings for today. Neal chapters 1,2,3. History of Space Policy. 4 Oct 1957: Sputnik I launched Shock waves throughout free world, esp USA Part of Cold War competition in ideology and military capability Near hysteria followed Eyes looking down on us!

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Space Policy Now

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  1. Space Policy Now 15 January 2019

  2. Readings for today • Neal chapters 1,2,3

  3. History of Space Policy • 4 Oct 1957: Sputnik I launched • Shock waves throughout free world, esp USA • Part of Cold War competition in ideology and military capability • Near hysteria followed • Eyes looking down on us! • Ham radio followed sputnik signals • Presaged ‘bombs from space’

  4. Bush Report (1945): Science - the Endless Frontier • Government supplies funds to universities, foundations, research centers • Bargain: • Gov’t supports science for the public good • Basic research provides raw material for progress, public good (e.g., ONR, AEC, NIH) • This requires strategic planning, competition, selection, federal funding and reviews

  5. Questions • What is science? • What is policy? • Who knows best?

  6. Science • A process that supplies repeatable truth about the universe • Search for truth and new knowledge • Scientific method is over-simplified! • Not the same as technology • Basic research leads to applied research, which leads to development • Example: Manhattan Project’s development of atomic bomb was based on basic and applied physics research

  7. Policy • The way that resources are used: Follow the money (as in the Watergate scandal) • Space activities are expensive, only the richest nations can afford it • Like science, policy is a process as well as a product • Science policy is important because of the impacts of science on modern life

  8. Tension or conflict? • Science is generally free and open… remember Galileo and his telescope • But science policy involves incentives for discovery that will meet national and political goals • Policy is highly visible, costly, value-laden, and open to public debate • This naturally involves controversy and disputes

  9. Space Science Elements • Individual scientists and teams • Robotic and human space missions • Astronauts and politicians • Strategic plans and decisions • Balance big and small missions

  10. More Tensions • Who knows best, scientists or politicians? • Having a ‘strategy’ means we can’t have a ‘democracy’: only some activities are sponsored • NASA budget is flat, but $19B is still a lot of money (even the small fraction that comes to Colorado is significant)

  11. Space Policy Issues • What is the right process: What can we learn from history? • What are the key space science questions? • What is the appropriate role for humans in space? • Cooperation versus competition • Role of the free market • Social benefits and how to encourage them • How to foster space and space science activities?

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