US President-elect Joe Biden speaks with supporters at a community event at MacDonald Ranch in Henderson, Nevada. Image by Planetary Society / Gauge Skidmore.
Shortly before last week at 4:00 am (12:00 UTC) (January 7, 2021), Congress confirmed Democrat Jn Biden as the winner of the United States presidential election. Vice President Mike Pence, chairing the joint session, announced the numbers 306-232. Whatever your political inclinations, if you are a space fan, you watched closely during the Donald Trump administration as it endorsed the long-term goal of sending astronauts to Mars by NASA. And you changed our nation’s path to the short-term goal of getting the next man and first woman back to the moon by 2024, with the Artemis program during Trump’s tenure. Overall – under Donald Trump – America’s gaze shifted more strongly to human missions to the moon and Mars. Will the President be the focus under Biden? How can NASA expect rent under Biden?
Here are some references. In 2017, Trump appointed Jim Brydenstein, a Republican congressman from Oklahoma, to run NASA. Congress – and the science and space communities – became the guardians because NASA is usually run by a scientist or former astronaut or other extraordinary space expert. More than seven months after Bridenstein’s appointment, it was finally confirmed by the Senate in April 2018. Despite his lack of space or scientific background, in his two years as NASA’s administrator, he appeared to earn the respect of many. Shortly after Biden’s election, however, in early November 2020, Bridenstein announced that he would resign.
More reference. There are wonderful missions in our solar system that we hear a lot about – the much-loved Mars fleet, the dramatic sweep of New Horizons Pluto, Cassini’s Saturn for 13 years and more Robotic Mission. The workaholic mission to understand our own earth and sun is a robotic mission. Efforts have been made for decades to balance small robotic missions like this, which bear much fruit, with larger, flasher and more expensive missions that could take humans into the solar system. The decision to launch Cassini or New Horizon would have to be made decades ago; Indeed, some of the most visible and exciting robotic missions of the century so far began the lifetime of scientists in the last decades of the 20th century. Why can’t we do both types of missions? Really why But it seems that – in terms of space programming since its inception in the late 1950s – there has been a shift between human targets and robotic missions. That’s something to keep in mind.
How will the US space program change under President Biden? Biden is a well-known figure in many ways, having served for decades in the Senate and eight years as vice president in the Obama administration. But their plans for NASA and America’s space program are unclear.
The Biden mission made little mention of its space priorities, except for a few statements made during the May 30, 2020 launch of Crew Dragon Demo 2, the first post-2011 launch of NASA astronauts from American soil. In particular, Byden wrote on his website:
As President, I look forward to leading a courageous space program that will continue to send astronaut heroes to expand our research and scientific frontiers through investments in research and technology to help millions of people on Earth.
The Democratic Party Platform – an experimental list of the Democratic Party’s objectives for the next four years – was proposed to the 2020 Platform Committee at its July 27, 2020 meeting. While claims for national health, economic development and sustainability of ethnic equity were fully introduced. , Among other things, the mere mention of the space program was condensed on a few lines. In short, however, it is considered promising in the opinion of John Logsden, founder of the Space Policy Institute at George and Washington Washington University. The Democratic Platform not only endorsed NASA’s current plans, but also outlined its priorities, ranging from scientific and technological advances to the continued operation of the International Space Station and human space research:
Democrats continue to support NASA and are committed to continuing space exploration and discovery. We believe in continuing the spirit of discovery that has animated NASA’s human space exploration, in addition to its scientific and medical research, technological innovation and educational missions that allow us to better understand our own place in the planet and the universe. We will strengthen support for the role of the United States in space through our continued presence on the International Space Station, working in partnership with the international community to continue scientific and medical innovation. We Americans support NASA’s work to return the moon and go to Mars, taking the next step in exploring our solar system. To better understand how climate change is affecting our planet, Democrats are increasingly advocating strengthening NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth observation mission.
From what we can collect, two main implications Change Chances are.
First, a Biden administration will strengthen NASA and NOAA’s Earth-observation capabilities., With the goal of better climate change. During the Obama administration, NASA’s Deputy Administrator, Lori Garver, was the keynote speaker at the Spacevision 2020 session on November 7 and 8, 2020.
Managing the Earth’s ability to sustain human life and biodiversity would, in my view, dominate the civil space agenda for the Biden-Harris administration.
Second, although it supports human return to the moon, the Biden administration makes no special mention of the launch date. The Trump administration’s timeline for launching humans to the moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis mission. There is speculation that the Biden administration will slow down the Artemis program in a very short time, perhaps freeing up money for earth science and other priorities in the agency. On December 20, 2020, the two houses of Congress of the United States Government agreed on the final budget for fiscal year 2021. In a report accompanying the bill, Senate allocators noted that uncertainty “makes it difficult to analyze future effects that fund funding.” The Accelerated Moon mission will be on NASA’s other important missions. Wendy Whitman Kobe, associate professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced F Advanced Air and Space Studies, said.
I don’t think Artemis will be canceled. I also don’t think he will get more money than what he currently earns.
On November 10, the Biden administration announced rosters of agency review teams that would move forward to gather information from the federal government and guide the Biden administration’s plan. Garver, who led the transition to the Obama administration, commented:
Transition teams really come to see how things work and make recommendations to move forward.
In front of the newly completed SLS Core Stage for the Artemis 1 mission, speaking to NASA Chief Jim Bridenstein in December 2019. Joe Biden announced his resignation on January 20, 2021, just days after Biden’s November election. Who will take his place? Image by Wikimedia Commons.
The main priority of Biden’s space focus will be the selection of his new NASA administrator. He has been quiet about his choice so far, but there has been plenty of speculation about potential candidates. That list is dominated by women. For example, Pam Melroy, a former NASA astronaut who flew on three shuttle missions, is a potential choice. Other possibilities include Wanda Austin, former president and chief executive of the Aerospace Corporation, and Gretchen McClean, a former NASA official who later worked in the industry and served on the boards of several companies.
Past transitions suggest that a new administrator for NASA will not arrive until the months following the January 20 inauguration. After the inauguration in January 2009, President Obama did not nominate Charlie Bolden as administrator (and Garver as deputy administrator) until May 2009; The Senate confirmed them in July. Bridenstein was nominated in September 2017, despite Trump emerging as the top candidate for NASA’s director in November 2016, days after winning the presidential election.
The artist’s idea of an astronaut on the moon through NASA’s Artemis program, looking back at Earth.
Bottom line: Democrat B Biden will be the next president of the United States. What are its plans for NASA and the US space program? We predict a focus on Earth observation, particularly in relation to climate change. And we join many others in predicting that the goal of landing the next man and first woman on the moon in the Artemis program will be pushed back by 2024.
Read more from EarthSky: NASA announces 18 astronauts on its Artemis team
Via the Democratic Party platform
.
