NASA's New Approach?

The budget problems of the federal government might lead NASA to change how it gets things done. Both Charles Bolden, the new NASA chief, and his deputy, Lori Garver, favor bringing private industry more fully into the space effort.

Conventional wisdom holds that NASA's budget will remain flat for several years as Congress and the President struggle to regain control of federal spending. That means if NASA is to pursue big projects during those years it will have to form partnerships-- with the space agencies of other governments, and with private industry.

The first big test of international partnership in space-- ISS-- has produced a viable space station. It has also gone way over the original budget, but that's largely because the design of the station, through the early years, kept changing. Lessons can be learned from ISS.

Several nations have expressed an interest in participating in an international program to establish a manned lunar base. If NASA assumed a leadership role in such an effort, it could return astronauts to the Moon relatively soon, maintain U. S. leadership in space, stay within a static budget, and, perhaps, establish a precedent for Mars exploration. By bringing private industry into a lunar project, the beginning of a true space economy could be established. That would eventually support large exploration programs.