At The Space Review today, in the context of NASA's new budget, Jeff Foust reprises one of my recurring themes--that we can't make sensible policy decisions until we decide what we're trying to accomplish and what the purpose of a space program is.

These editorials all seem to follow the old argument that robots are better, cheaper, and safer means of exploring the solar system than humans. However, buried in that debate is a deeper issue that is almost never brought up in superficial newspaper editorials and other commentary: what is NASA’s underlying mission? There is an unstated assumption among just about everyone who engages in this debate—either in favor of human or robotic missions—that NASA’s purpose is some sort of space exploration, but one that is rarely defined in more specific language. That nebulous notion of “exploration” means different things to different people.

Actually, I'd go further, and say that NASA has purposes beyond exploration (e.g, encouragement of technology development, and developing a space-faring nation), but it's even harder to debate that one.

In any event, unfortunately, it remains a debate that the nation continues to avoid, and we will continue to have a policy mess until we have it and reach a conclusion.

Rand, any succinct hints concerning your answer to "why" for human space exploration?

I predict you will answer vaguely with calls to read stuff you've written at other tiems and places. /snark

Remember I said succinct.

= = =

Me? I've beaten this drum a gadzillion times but to repeat - - > spreading human life throughout the solar system, eventually beyond, perhaps with a goal of a trillion living human beings (or our evolved descendants) by the year 2999. An extension of what Adam and Eve were told:

"Be fruitful and multiply"

Subdue the Earth? We've done that. Next?

= = =

The Earth may or may not be over-populated. We can argue. But we cannot argue that more people can be supported if we inhabit all the solar system than if we inhabit just one planet.

Now, which sub-set of humanity will lead the way?

The one that follows the advice of Confederate general Nathanial Bedford Forrest:

"Git out dere fust-est wid da' most-est"

I liked this and the NRO piece, but -- having hashed out Fortune 100 mission/vision statements and lobbied governments -- I have low expectations for "crisp" goals and priorities from any sizeable organization, absent some dramatic external pressure (e.g. "beat the USSR" 1957-1969) to enforce them. Inside or outside government, if you're big enough to matter you're big enough to have multiple constituencies and fudged strategies. I've seen struggles among corporate product managers over "cannibalizing" each other's markets to match anything at NASA.

Could the space advocacy "community" provide enough pressure to drive the hoped-for debate? Let's see -- got 32 bookmarks here for "alt.space companies," and 41 for non-governmental "space organizations". All together, now... [insert :-) or :-( to taste]

I think Monte Davis has the original purpose of NASA down. A civilian, so as not to inflame a Cold War, effort to beat the USSR into space, and failing that beat them to the moon. NASA succeeded on the moon piece, and like any government created bureaucracy, it remained long after its mission was completed.

I'd like to go back to the NACA. Maybe call it NACAS.

I'm sure you most of you know this but I was curious. I went to NASA's home page and searched for Mission Statement. I came up with a MULTITUDE of hits. It seems NASA requires all of it ancillary pieces to have a mission statements, however NASA itself has none.

how about simply expanding our economic frontiers further out from GEO ? everything else follows from that ( i.e. if you are already mining the asteroids or moon, its easy for science, tourism and eventually colonization in some form to follow and tag along )
you can have your technology development and R&D goals serving the purpose of fostering better and more efficient usage of space resources. you can have science goals tied to the same. you can even have government-built space transport systems when situation calls for it ( for example, nuclear powered prototypes to go prospecting the gas giants or whatever ).
and, as once you have a clear underlying reason for doing all that stuff, you can measure your activities merits on whether they help the common goal or not. a better part of what NASA does and intends to do now would be scrapped if the goal WAS expanding the economy further out.

I think that if we have an honest discussion about what we're trying to accomplish and what the purpose of the space program is, we will find that there simply is no room in those accomplishments or that purpose for a government-funded space program. Unless what we are trying to accomplish is to ensure that space forever remains too expensive for anyone but large government agencies to operate in.

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