The Bush Administration’s propensity for grand ideas paired with little planning and an inability to play with its neighbors in the international community has infected NASA.  A report released by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences highlights problems at NASA that mirror Bush’s problems in Iraq.

The authors, George Abbey and Dr. Neal Lane, made these statements in the report.

NYT

“current space policy is ill defined and its future path is uncertain.”

“Current U.S. space policy presents a paradoxical picture of high ambition and diminishing commitment,”

“It [The Administration’s space plan] is incomplete, in part, because it raises serious questions about the future commitment of the United States to astronomy and to planetary, earth and space science. It is unrealistic from the perspectives of cost, timetable and technological capability.”

“Pursuit of the NASA Plan, as formulated, is likely to result in substantial harm to the U.S. space program.”

A lack of planning, an ill-defined future path, and a lack of commitment to science, this sounds familiar.
Post 9/11 changes in US policy are also hindering our ability to maintain an effective space program.  Because of restrictions on exports of space technology and tightening of visa requirements for foreign researchers and students, we are losing our international partners, whose cooperation is critical.

The paper said the space program had pursued a go-it-alone strategy in many areas, leading many of the nation’s space partners to express concern. And because of restrictions on American exports of space technology, the paper argues, partnerships are hindered and foreign competitors are gaining an advantage in the commercial space market.

The militarization of space is also having a negative effect on our ability to form international partnerships.

The move to put weapons systems in space, an Air Force initiative being considered by the White House, could further endanger efforts at international cooperation that help make space missions possible, Mr. Abbey said, adding, “You wouldn’t find people anxious to work with the United States in a cooperative space program when the U.S. is putting weapons up there.”

The swelling budget deficit,  generated by Bush’s Tax Cuts and War in Iraq, leaves insufficient funds for getting us to the Moon and Mars.

Mr. Abbey said the current space plan called for about $5 billion in the next five years from the annual $16 billion NASA budget to be directed to the Moon-to-Mars plan. Getting to the Moon in the 1960’s cost more than $125 billion in dollars adjusted for inflation, he said, so “$5 billion a year probably doesn’t even get you to orbit.”

And the culture of “we are never wrong” has also infiltrated NASA.

Mr. Abbey said he had tried to raise his concerns with administration officials, but “if you’re critical of their position, you’re absolutely wrong – so they don’t take time to listen.”

So thanks to Bush’s Midas touch we now have a NASA with an inability to plan, an inability to fund its projects, an inability to work with the rest of the world, and an inability to listen to criticism.