Space & Campaign 2000

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From: Samidh Chakrabarti (samidh@mit.edu)
Date: Mon Feb 28 2000 - 14:56:09 MST


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* SEDS-discuss : Discussion of Anything SEDS or Space-Related *
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In this week's "Spaceviews" Jeff Foust (SEDS alumnus) published an 
article on the presidential candidates' views on space policy. Take a 
look and keep it in mind when you cast your votes. But please, don't 
be a single-issue voter.

Lots of other space news and features are on the spaceviews website:
http://www.spaceviews.com

The NSS also maintains a small website on Campaign 2000. It is not 
very user-friendly, but there is some good information hidden in 
there:
http://www.nss.org/camp2000/home.html

Samidh
--

                        Campaign 2000 and Space:
            What the Presidential Candidates (Aren't) Saying

                             by Jeff Foust


Space policy generally is never a major issue in a U.S. Presidential
campaign.  Support for NASA and space exploration has broad, albeit
not necessarily deep, bipartisan support, and NASA's relatively small
budget -- less than one percent of the overall federal budget -- keeps
it from becoming an issue on par with defense, welfare, and Social
Security.

	That doesn't mean, though, that there isn't interest in the
candidates' views on space, particularly among members of space
advocacy groups like the NSS, Planetary Society, and Mars Society.
Moreover, as space projects take on international dimensions, such as
the International Space Station, there is a growing interest in the
future direction of American space efforts by citizens of other
nations.  However, the low profile of space policy in the Presidential
campaigns makes it difficult for anyone to learn more about the
candidates' stands, if any, on these issues.

	In an effort to shed some light on space policy, SpaceViews
mailed questionnaires in January to the headquarters of ten campaigns
active at that time: Democratic candidates Bill Bradley and Al Gore;
Republican candidates Gary Bauer, George W. Bush, Steve Forbes, Orrin
Hatch, Alan Keyes, and John McCain, and Reform Party candidates Pat
Buchanan and Donald Trump.  (Since then Bauer, Forbes, Hatch, and
Trump have dropped out.)  The questionnaire asked the candidates for
their opinions on a number of space related issues, ranging from the
International Space Station to future human exploration of the Moon
and Mars to ways to support private space companies.

	Unfortunately, the only response to the questionnaire came
from Bradley's campaign, who politely declined to answer the one-page
questionnaire.  While SpaceViews plans to contact the candidates later
in the 2000 campaign, we thought it was important to provide some
information about the candidates' opinions on space policy now, since
the next two weeks feature a series of primaries that may decide the
Republican and Democratic nominees for November's general election.

	SpaceViews has pulled together information from its own
research, coupled with other media reports as well as the Mars
Society's "Operation President", the most extensive effort yet to
solicit the candidates' opinions on at least one aspect of space
policy, support for a human mission to Mars.  A brief summary on the
views of the two Democratic and three remaining Republican candidates
is provided below.


Democrats

Bill Bradley:  The former New Jersey senator has been quiet on space
policy issues.  He made a passing reference to space exploration in a
New Hampshire speech in January, stating that "Americans continued not
only to populate and build up the American West, but we've led the way
in exploring new frontiers, from outer space to the space inside the
atom."  The only other reference to space came during a December
debate in New Hampshire, where Bradley hinted that his interest in
space is rooted in the potential for spinoffs from space endeavors.

	"I think investment in space is important," he said.
"Investment in space is important because of the research fallout."
In the same debate, Bradley also declined to set a specific goal for a
human mission to Mars. "I would continue to make investment in space,
but I would not make a commitment to Mars by a particular date."

	However, the National Space Society considers Bradley "anti-
space", based on his Senate voting record.  On several occasions
between 1992 and 1996, when he retired from the Senate, Bradley
supported legislation to kill funding for the space station.


Al Gore:  Like his opponent, Gore has been relatively quiet on space
issues.  However, his past seven years as Vice President would
indicate that any space policy he had would closely mirror the
existing Clinton Administration's work.  Gore has already played some
role developing NASA programs, notably the "Triana" Earth-observing
satellite Gore proposed in 1998, a spacecraft derisively dubbed
"Goresat" by Congressional opponents who have questioned the need for,
and expense of, the spacecraft.

	Gore has already gone on the record in the campaign for
supporting the International Space Station, telling participants in a
New Hampshire town meeting in December that "understanding the
problems associated with longer term duration in manned space flight
represents the next critical step if we're going to explore the solar
system."

	Gore, though, like Bradley, is less enthusiastic about human
missions in the solar system.  "I think that, in the lifetimes of
people in this room, we will see people walking on the surface of
Mars," he said at the town meeting.  In the same debate with Bradley,
though, Gore said the costs of such a mission would be a "completely
different order of magnitude" than the Apollo program.  "We are right
now not at a point of where it makes good sense to outline" specific
plans for Mars missions.


Republicans

George W. Bush:  Despite being Governor of Texas, home to NASA's
Johnson Space Center, Bush has been relatively quiet on space issues.
On one occasion he even publicly sidestepped a question on space
policy posed at a forum in December in Washington D.C.  "I thought you
were going to ask about China," Bush was quoted as saying, before
launching into a discussion of his China policy that made no reference
to space.

	While the Bush campaign has issued no statements dealing
directly with space policy, one statement does make an indirect
reference to space policy.  As President, Bush said he would reform
existing export control policies -- an issue that commercial space
companies seeking to export satellites and related equipment have
become acutely aware of.  Bush's policy would allow for the export of
high-tech products that are already "readily available" in foreign and
mass markets, and would "streamline and expedite" the licensing
process for those products that are not readily available.

	While Bush has said little about space, his brother, Florida
Governor Jeb Bush, believes the candidate is supportive of space
exploration.  "My brother is a strong supporter of forward-looking
space policy," Jeb Bush told a reporter for space.com during a "Space
Summit" in Florida last month.  However, he added, "Ive not heard him
speak specifically about any projects."


John McCain:  The Arizona Senator has been somewhat more outspoken
about space than his colleagues, and his comments to date reflect both
an interest in space exploration and concern about the current and
future costs of NASA programs.  McCain's opinions might be best
summarized by comments he made on NBC's Today program a week after the
scheduled landing of the Mars Polar Lander: "We still support NASA,"
he said, but added, "I think we've got to look at what they've been
doing and how we can ensure the best use of the American taxpayers'
dollars."

	McCain made similar comments in November when he expressed his
concern about the growing cost of the International Space Station.
"All of us love NASA and space exploration, but NASA has some serious
cost overruns," he said. "They have got to make better use of their
budget and develop more realistic costs for projects."

	At that time he also expressed his support for the "Space
Island Project" a long-running proposal to use the shuttle's external
tanks to construct a space station.  McCain called the proposal a
"wonderful, visionary project" and said he planned to hold Senate
hearings on the topic some time this year.  Despite McCain's interest,
few in the aerospace industry think the concept has any chance of
actually being implemented.

	McCain addresses both the station and a human mission to Mars
in statements on his official Web site, the only one of the major
candidates to do so.  In those statements, McCain has called for
realistic cost estimates for the station as well as additional efforts
to get private industry involved in potential commercial uses of the
station to offset government costs.  McCain also expressed his support
for a human mission to Mars "if the cost could be drastically
reduced."


Alan Keyes: While the former talk show host and State Department
employee has virtually no chance of capturing the Republican
nomination, Keyes has been one of the most articulate supporters of
space on the campaign trail.  At a nationally-televised New Hampshire
town meeting in October, Keyes drew parallels between space
exploration and the Lewis and Clark expedition nearly 200 years ago.

	"We have a vast frontier sitting on our doorstep in space
which we have developed the technology to make use of," Keyes said.
"We should, as a community, sustain our commitment to make sure we are
able to develop and make use of that great frontier; for the sake of
humanity, not just for our own sake."

	Keyes also told representatives of the Mars Society that, if
elected President, he would support increased funding for space
exploration, including a human mission to Mars.



Conclusion

	The candidates' statements, or lack of statements, indicate
that space is again not a major issue for any of the candidates.  This
also likely means that none of the candidates would make significant
changes in NASA or other space policy issues once elected.

	That indifference can be frustrating for those who are seeking
significant changes in space policy.  "Most of the candidates still
don't seem to realize that a mission to Mars can be affordable, and
achieved within the current NASA budget level," said Chris Carberry,
the head of the Mars Society's Operation President.  "We also need to
do a better job explaining why we should do it, and that there really
is a lot of popular support for Mars exploration."

	The Mars Society, at least, plans to continue their efforts to
get their message across to the candidates.  "We are currently trying
to set up one-on-one meetings with all of the candidates," said
Carberry.  "We hope that once we can sit down with each of the
candidates, we can show them that not only do we have the technology
to send humans to Mars, but if can be done affordably, safely, and
that it will continue this country's great heritage of exploration."

[Editor's Note: Starting later this week SpaceViews will be keeping
track of the 2000 Presidential campaign at a special section of our
Web site, http://www.spaceviews.com/features/campaign2000/ .  Check in
there later this week with the latest news and information about space
policy and the 2000 election.]


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