From: Samidh Chakrabarti (samidh@mit.edu)
Date: Mon Feb 28 2000 - 14:56:09 MST
*************************************************************** * SEDS-discuss : Discussion of Anything SEDS or Space-Related * *************************************************************** 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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