Privatization

NASA Needs Big Changes To Reach Moon, Mars-Panel

AP 16jun04

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—NASA must make difficult and controversial changes - like turning its Apollo-era field centers into innovative research hubs - if the U.S. is to send humans back to the moon and on to Mars, a presidential commission said Wednesday.

The commission issued 14 recommendations for achieving the goals outlined by President George W. Bush in January, and stressed that adopting all of them will increase the chances of success.

"This report is not a no-confidence vote in NASA ," said commission Chairman Edward "Pete" Aldridge, a retired Defense Department official. "But this is something that says, 'Hey, we really think you need to do something different now that you've got this new direction that we think is wonderful.' And it's something we hadn't had for 30 years."

Aldridge and members of his commission presented the 60-page report to Vice President Dick Cheney and then met with reporters in Washington and later with NASA employees.

Aldridge said reaction from the White House was positive. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe called the recommendations "quite remarkable," and urged employees to give them as much thought and consideration as the commission did.

The moon-Mars commission spent the past four months conducting hearings around the country and reviewing thousands of ideas from experts, educators and space enthusiasts.

In the end, the group settled on eight findings and 14 recommendations on how best to implement the president's vision of landing astronauts on the moon by 2020 and getting them to Mars a decade or two later.

Among them: NASA should give a larger share of its launch work to industry. It should transform its field centers into federally funded research and development centers, like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The nine field centers - still stuck in the 1960s Apollo era with an aging work force, old buildings and "ossified" practices, and often duplicating one another's efforts -"are not optimally configured to carry out the nation's space exploration vision," the commission said in its report.

Aldridge said the exploration plan will boost the U.S. economy and competitiveness by creating good technical jobs, improve national security through the advanced technology that results, ensure America's leadership in the world and inspire youngsters and teachers.

The commission defended the "pay-as-you-go approach" adopted by NASA , and said it is not essential -and not even possible -to calculate the full cost of the program.

"How much is the cure for cancer going to cost? I don't know that either, but I know what I can afford on an annual basis to try to get there and this is the same model we're using for the space program," Aldridge said.

He noted, however, that NASA needs to work harder at spreading the message and, despite all the restrictions on marketing, could borrow an idea or two from the armed services' recruitment efforts.

"NASA does not do a very good job of selling the program to the American people," he said. The "U.S. Air Force now has a stock car with 'Air Force' painted on it. Where's the NASA stock car?

`I know there are some engineers who could really soup that car up...Maybe we can put a rocket engine on the back," Aldridge added.

Panel Will Urge NASA to Privatize

AP 15jun04

A White House commission will recommend that NASA give private corporations a broader role in space launches -- and a greater share of the financial burden -- to ensure President Bush's goal of ultimately going to Mars, documents obtained yesterday said.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration should overhaul its Apollo-era relationship with private industries and limit the space agency's involvement to areas "where there is irrefutable demonstration that only government can perform the proposed activity," said a summary prepared by the president's commission. The summary was obtained by the Associated Press; the final report is expected later this week.

The commission's conclusions are aimed at easing the burden on taxpayers by increasingly commercializing the nation's space program.

The administration has been sensitive to questions about the enormous cost of such a plan, noting that NASA spending -- which would remain largely unchanged -- amounts to less than 1 percent of the overall federal budget. Some analysts have said Mr. Bush's goals ultimately could cost $1 trillion.

The commission determined that NASA should recognize "a far larger presence of private industry in space operations with the specific goal of allowing private industry to assume the primary role of providing services to NASA, and most immediately in accessing low-earth orbit."

Analysts said that conclusion clearly signals intentions to hand over nearly all space launches -- except manned missions -- to private corporations.

"It carves out the launch of astronauts," said George T. Whitesides, head of the National Space Society, a nonprofit group advocating space exploration. "I'm sure there will be a lot of debate about that over the coming weeks."

Mr. Bush created the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy to help decide the best way to accomplish his new space vision, which includes flights to the moon and Mars in the next few decades.

The commission will encourage NASA to "aggressively use its contractual authority" to foster new technologies and ideas, and it wants NASA to assess current launch technologies, which would be handed over to the private sector.

Mr. Bush in January asked for a $1 billion boost to NASA's budget over five years to fund the start of a new American campaign in space. Mr. Bush proposed establishing a lunar base within two decades and a manned landing on Mars sometime after 2030.

"Never let it be said that NASA tends to overestimate the cost of its missions," said Douglas Osheroff, a widely renowned physicist who investigated the February 2003 breakup of the Space Shuttle Columbia. "The cost in present-day dollars ... I think it's going to be $1 trillion."

The conclusions by the White House commission were first disclosed by Space.com, an Internet news site for astronomy and space enthusiasts.

source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20040614-114608-6628r 17jun04

White House Panel To Recommend Reduced Role For NASA

Dow Jones Newswires 14jun04

WASHINGTON (AP)—A White House commission will recommend that NASA overhaul its Apollo-era relationships with private industries, giving corporations a broader role in upcoming space launches to ensure President George W. Bush's goal of ultimately flying to Mars, according to documents obtained Monday.

The role of NASA "must be limited to only those areas where there is irrefutable demonstration that only government can perform the proposed activity," according to a summary obtained by The Associated Press that was prepared by the president's commission. Its final report is expected later this week.

The commission determined that NASA should recognize "a far larger presence of private industry in space operations with the specific goal of allowing private industry to assume the primary role of providing services to NASA, and most immediately in accessing low-earth orbit."

Experts said that conclusion clearly signals intentions to hand over nearly all space launches - except manned missions - to private corporations.

"It carves out the launch of astronauts," said George T. Whitesides, head of the National Space Society. "I'm sure there will be a lot of debate about that over the coming weeks."

Bush created the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy to help decide the best way to accomplish his new space vision, which includes resuming flights to the moon and Mars over the next few decades.