The Democratic Party has expressed its support for NASA, a continued presence on the International Space Station, and manned missions to the moon and Mars, according to a draft of the 2020 Democratic Party platform released Tuesday (July 21).
The draft platform, which you can read here, which describes the party’s platform, was sent to party officials for review last week. The document includes a paragraph on space policy, which describes how an administration led by presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden would handle space exploration.
As the platform says: “Democrats continue to support the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and are committed to continuing exploration and discovery of space.”
“We believe in continuing the spirit of discovery that has fueled NASA’s human space exploration, in addition to its scientific and medical research, technological innovation, and educational mission that enables us to better understand our own planet and place in the universe,” he continues. .
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The platform continues to specifically cite support for “our continued presence on the International Space Station,” and refers to NASA’s goals to land American astronauts on the moon once again and on Mars for the first time. “We support NASA’s work to return Americans to the moon and go further to Mars, taking the next step to explore our solar system,” says the platform.
However, the document makes no explicit reference to the agency’s goal to land a manned mission on the moon by 2024 (the goal of NASA’s current Artemis program) and does not list any timelines or deadlines for these shots at the Moon.
Furthermore, the platform continues to support the “strengthening” of NASA Earth observation missions that study climate change and its impact on our planet.
At least from this initial overview, it appears that the party is not intended to make drastic changes at NASA. Specifically, although the platform does not reference 2024 as a landing target, the declared support for manned lunar missions appears to imply continued support for Artemis.
“NASA supporters can breathe a sigh of relief when they read the draft of the Democratic platform,” John Logsdon, professor emeritus at the George Washington University Institute for Space Policy, told SpaceNews.
“There is no indication of major changes in NASA’s direction or programs, with the welcome exception that they apparently fall behind the unrealistic deadline of 2024 for the first Americans to return to the moon,” Logsdon told SpaceNews. “This is generally very supportive of the nation’s space efforts.”
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This is not Biden’s only recent link to space exploration. Biden served as Vice President of the Obama Administration, which saw a number of major developments in the space sector, including the dramatic increase in commercial space flight.
Biden also spoke briefly on the matter after the successful launch of SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission on May 30.
“I congratulate NASA, SpaceX and all of the working women and men who made a victory for American innovation and persistence today,” it said in a statement. “This mission represents the culmination of the work started years ago and that President Obama and I fought hard to ensure that it became a reality.”
“As president, I look forward to advancing America’s commitment to seek space exploration and uncover scientific discoveries that inspire a new generation of dreamers to look to the sky and imagine all that our future may hold,” added Biden.
Email Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
