What the next president must do to revitalize American space exploration

As the 2016 presidential campaign season begins, those who are interested in America’s civil space program are starting to wonder where the candidates stand on space. Of the candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has waxed the most eloquent, championing spending more money on space exploration, though at the expense of Earth science. Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and Hillary Clinton have also had some nice things to say about space recently. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Donald Trump have not been so enthusiastic, however.

The next president will want to put his or her stamp on NASA and the course of the civil space program. Whether that course will mean going back to the moon, doubling down on Mars, or doing something else entirely remains to be seen. But whatever the next president chooses to do, he or she would do well to pay attention to the process of making and sustaining space policy.

{mosads}Two recent examples exist of major space projects that were announced with great fanfare, but which imploded into ruin because the presidents who advocated them made leadership mistakes. Ironically, both of those presidents were named George Bush.

On July 20, 1989, President George H. W. Bush, with the Apollo 11 astronauts by his side, stood in front of the Air and Space Museum in Washington and announced what became the Space Exploration Initiative. SEI would return American astronauts to the moon and send them on to Mars. It was not only a scientifically exciting task for NASA but would also give the aerospace industry something to do as the Cold War wound down.

The elder Bush’s main mistake was not consulting Congress and NASA before rolling out the new initiative. Congress, not happy with being asked to fund a huge, expensive space project, refused to appropriate any money. Then NASA Administrator Richard Truly, still trying to get the space station off the ground, took a dim view of having another big project put on his plate. The NASA 90 study that pegged SEI as a half-trillion dollar, 30-year program had the effect, many believed intended, of poisoning the well for the program. President Bill Clinton quietly terminated the initiative soon after he took office in 1993.

Fast forward to February 4, 2004. President George W. Bush’s speech at NASA headquarters was lower key than the one his father gave almost 15 years before. But the scope of the Vision for Space Exploration was no less grand. American astronauts would return to the moon by the year 2020 and then go to other destinations, particularly Mars..

The younger Bush avoided the big mistake his father made. His administration worked on the new policy for almost a year, consulting Congress, which would be expected to pay for the Vision, and NASA, which would be expected to carry it out. Even so, the Bush administration had to play hardball with Congress for the first year of the VSE, making its first veto threat when it looked as if the House would slash spending for NASA and enlisting the help of then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to make sure funding was made available.

Then the younger Bush made a crucial mistake of never publicly mentioned space again, having apparently checked off the NASA box. He did not defend and nurture his program.  NASA Administrator Mike Griffin complained that Bush’s OMB had cut funding for the VSE. The shortage of funding and technical challenges had started to delay the milestones of the program. President Barack Obama canceled the Bush program in his budget request issued in February 2010.

Therein constitutes a lesson for the next president. Whatever direction is chosen in space, two things have to happen. First, support has to be solicited from the aerospace stakeholders, at NASA and in Congress. Next, whatever program is announced, it needs to be supported in the long term. Americans will never go back to the moon or on to Mars, unless the next president pays attention to the political process necessary to keep the program funded and on track. Otherwise, any grand announcement would be just wasted breath.

Whittington, who writes frequently about space and politics, has just published a political study of space exploration entitled Why is it so Hard to Go Back to the Moon?He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.