1. Space Policy Now
15 January 2019

2. Readings for today
Neal chapters 1,2,3

3. 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’

4. 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 strategic planning, competition, selection, federal funding and reviews

5. Questions
What is science?
What is policy?
Who knows best?

6. 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

7. 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
Like science, policy is a process as well as a product
Science policy is important because of the impacts of science on modern life

8. 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

9. Space Science Elements
Individual scientists and teams
Robotic and human space missions
Astronauts and politicians
Strategic plans and decisions
Balance big and small missions

10. 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)

11. Space Policy Issues
What is the right process: What can we learn from history?
What are the key space science questions?
What is the appropriate role for humans in space?
Cooperation versus competition
Role of the free market
Social benefits and how to encourage them
How to foster space and space science activities?