WaPo takes a look at a recent Futron study that concludes the United States is in danger of losing its leading role in space because of increased international competition, insufficient funding, and limited public support.
“Although the United States remains dominant in most space-related fields — and owns half the military satellites currently orbiting Earth — experts say the nation’s superiority is diminishing, and many other nations are expanding their civilian and commercial space capabilities at a far faster pace,” the article states.
The always chatty NASA Administrator, Mike Griffin, is quoted several times. Griffin bemoans America’s growing lack of competitiveness, complains about his agency’s low budget, and warns about China’s “carefully though out space flight program” designed to help make that country “a strategic world power second to none.”
As usual, Griffin doesn’t connect the problems to any of his own decisions, specifically how he has implemented the Bush Administration’s plans to send humans back to the Moon and on to Mars. A number of experts believe that Griffin has made poor choices that have greatly raised costs on a program that the Administration low-balled to begin with.
WaPo reporter Marc Kaufman apparently didn’t interview any of these critics, but he does note the Bush Administration’s reluctance to adequately support its own signature space initiative.
“Uncertainty over the fate of President Bush’s ambitious ‘vision’ of a manned moon-Mars mission, announced with great fanfare in 2004, is emblematic,” Kaufman writes. “The program was approved by Congress, but the administration’s refusal to significantly increase spending to build a new generation of spacecraft has slowed development while leading to angry complaints that NASA is cannibalizing promising unmanned science missions to pay for the moon-Mars effort.
“NASA’s Griffin has told worried members of Congress that additional funds could move up the delivery date of the new-generation spacecraft from 2015 to 2013. The White House has rejected Senate efforts to provide the money,” Kaufman added.
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