Barack Obama Publishes His Space Policy

Senator Barack Obama has published a comprehensive space policy that is conspicuous in what it does not mention as in what it does. Unfortunately it constitutes a return to the 1990s during which astronauts flew in circles in low Earth orbit and commercial space was ignored.

The policy begins promisingly enough:

"Over the decades, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has embodied the adventurous spirit that lifted this nation to greatness and inspired people around the world. Barack Obama believes that the United States needs a strong space program to help maintain its superiority not only in space, but also here on earth in the realms of education, technology, and national security."

Unfortunately this paragraph is simply PR blather to mask what is to follow.

There is a list of things Obama wants to do in space. He is in favor of building the Orion/Ares space craft "to ensure that the United States' reliance on foreign space capabilities is limited to the minimum possible time period." There is no mention of building the heavy lift Ares V or using the Orion to send explorers back to the Moon and on to Mars. Obama is also in favor of completing the International Space Station.

Obama is in favor of "a bold array of robotic missions that will expand our knowledge of the solar system and lay the foundations for further manned exploration." The reader will note the verbiage concerning "further manned exploration." "Lay the foundation for." Not "do" or "accomplish" or even "pursue." For a man who aspires to be the African American John F. Kennedy, support for manned space exploration seems tepid at best, nonexistent at worse.

There are some proposals to task NASA to study climate change and increase support for science research. Obama seems to be in favor of surveillance satellites but against weapons in space. In the latter area Obama appears to favor the sort of arms control agreements that proved somewhat fruitless in the 1970s. There is no evidence to suggest that China might give up the ability to take out American satellites upon which the American military depends so heavily.