Main image: SpaceX rockets from Elon Musk could one day bring American astronauts into space. Credit: SpaceX
It was summer, a cold war with Russia was getting ready, and a Republican president in the US worried about seeing foreign powers win the "race to the US". # 39; space. " Sound familiar? You can not think that much has changed in the 60 years since President Eisenhower established NASA on July 29, 1958, just months after Sputnik-1 became the first human-created object in the space
. create a "space force" as the sixth branch of the US Armed Forces comes at a time when NASA must already rethink its space exploration priorities
Trump cares he l & # 39; space? now we have bigger problems … we have to fix our potholes, "said Trump during the presidential campaign in 2016. However, he also promised to" release NASA from the restriction of serving primarily as 39, a logistics agency for low activity Earth orbit, "which suggests that he wants NASA to leave the International Space Station at companies like SpaceX, Orbital ATK and Boeing, and focuses on the Moon and Mars.
Dir ectives is largely symbolic Credit: NASA / Aubrey Gemignani
Others think that he has no idea of space exploration.In April 2017, during a phone call with an American astronaut aboard the ISS, Trump said that NASA should send some humans on Mars during his first term NASA believes that 10-15 years is more realistic.
"Trump does not have space as its highest priority, but no American president has ever placed space as their highest priority, not even John F. Kennedy "says Laura Forczyk, space consultant at Astralytical. "He does not seem to care about space, but he's paying attention to his vice president Mike Pence, who is chairman of the National Space Council (NSpC)."
How NASA Works, 1: The President Establishes Politics [19659005] President Trump first relaunched the NSpC, then in December 2017 signed Directive 1 on Space Policy, ordering NASA to bring the Americans back to the surface of the moon and finally place astronauts on the surface of Mars. However, the Trump administration then tried to force NASA to dump the wide-angle infrared telescope, its planned space observatory that would follow the James Webb space telescope, Fortunately for astronomers, space policy guidelines do not mean much.
No astronaut has reached the United States space since the space shuttle retired. 011. Credit: NASA / Joel Kowsky
NASA's budget n is not set by the US President, but by Congress. "Congress can choose to listen to the president's space policy guidelines, or choose to ignore them," Forczyk says. "The Congress is the one that provides NASA's budget – a committee to approve it and a committee to approve it."
Unsurprisingly, Florida and Texas senators and other NASA locations where NASA's major projects are located. So, for now, WFIRST stays because Congress gave NASA the money it needed. However, now comes another announcement of White House policy that seems to have nothing to do with space exploration.
What is a "Space Force" and why is it necessary?
The Space Force is a planned emanation of the US Air Force, and its creation is less related to China's plans to launch a Chinese space station (CSS) in the 2020s and to colonize the Moon after 2030 , and more to do with China's anti-satellite and cybersecurity activities.
"We do not want China, Russia and other countries to lead us" this year at a meeting of the National Council of Space. "When it comes to defending America, it's not enough to have an American presence in space – we need to have American domination in the air." [19659003] A separate organization within the Department of Defense, space will be concerned with the national security space activities, which probably means satellites and rocket launches rather than space lasers.
The origins of NASA are military
Satellites and rockets are pretty much what the US Air Force Space Command is already using, which has spurred NASA's astronaut retired to call it a "stupid idea" but NASA has its origins in geopolitics and in the army, it was created as a result of the "Sputnik crisis"
However, if the Space Force will really destroy asteroids and extraterrestrials shot, there is a small problem: the United States do not. I do not currently have the ability to send astronauts into the US ground space. Oddly enough, it's Russia's job, and despite the ongoing controversy between Trump and Russia, the situation is not going to change anytime soon.
One might think that any country aspiring to have space power would be able to launch astronauts into space, but this is not the case for the United States at the time current. Since July 2011 and the retirement of the space shuttle Atlantis, all American astronauts sent to the International Space Station have been taken there by the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos on its Soyuz rockets.
NASA costs about $ 81 million by astronaut 21.8 million US dollars when the Space Shuttle was still flying – but there is also the huge symbolic cost of America relying on Russia to send its people in the space.
Can commercial space companies help? The recent directive on spatial policy n ° 2 of the administration aims to encourage entrepreneurs of the space economy. Boeing and SpaceX were signed by NASA to transport astronauts aboard their CST-100 Starliner and Crew Dragon spacecraft, respectively, as of 2015.
"It was one of those programs that people wanted to prioritize because of the political problems with Russia, and because of the symbolism of the United States who launch their own astronauts ", explains Laura Forczyk." It's embarrbading not to be able to do it since the departure to Space Shuttle Retreat. "
Crew Dragon will be used on SpaceX's Demonstration Mission-1 (DM-1) mission, a non-decoupled orbital test scheduled for launch in September or October of this year (Orbital Flight Test). scheduled for the end of 2018 or early 2019. [19659003] The budget, the new technical and rigorous security issues have delayed the schedules of both companies. Boeing and SpaceX stand shoulder to shoulder "
Mars Trade Missions
SpaceX has a long way to go: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk focuses on Mars, and has finished developing his Falcon 9 rocket reusable, he w He asks his company to focus on the development of the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR).
"SpaceX has done other things, pulling money from the launch of satellites to Both private and government, "explains Forczyk, Boeing – who is helping NASA build its controversial space launch system, linked to Mars – has also begun to voice its own plans for Mars.
The plans of the NASA for the Moon and Mars
Along with the announcement of the Space Force, another element seems to sum up most of the presidential commitments in space exploration: the goal of a new landing on the moon in 10 years [19659003] old politics that continues to be resurrected, "explains Forczyk. However, NASA seems to have a plan: in conjunction with the commercial space industry, an orbital-Gateway lunar platform will be built in the 2020s, and the first crewed mission using the Space Launch System (SLS) not yet tested by NASA. Orion is scheduled for 2023. Mars is left for the 2030s.
Boeing intends to use its CST-100 Starliner for trips to the US. ISS. Credit: Boeing
As with all NASA projects, planning, preparation, testing, and launching can take whole careers, and with funding from NASA. Spatial agency on his plans is minimal. The current administration may have set the tone for a more militaristic approach to space, but the marketing of low-Earth orbit – and the launch of US astronauts from the United States – would probably have the most important impact. After all, does anyone really need to worry about a space force that currently has no way to penetrate the space?
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