Space Policy Now 13 January 2015. History of Space Policy 4 Oct 1957: Sputnik I launched – Shock...
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Transcript of Space Policy Now 13 January 2015. History of Space Policy 4 Oct 1957: Sputnik I launched – Shock...
Space Policy Now
13 January 2015
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’
• 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 iewstrategic planning, competition, selection, federal funding and re
Questions
• What is science?
• What is policy?
• Who knows best?
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
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
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
Space Science Elements
• Individual scientists and teams• Robotic and human space missions• Astronauts and politicians• Strategic plans and decisions• Balance big and small missions
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)