Space exploration and presidential politics

If there’s one rule for the politics of the present decade so far, it’s been, “politicized issues go nowhere.” Climate change, energy, federal debt, environmental regulation, tax reform, and the list goes on. As more issues come under the polarized umbrella of our side/their side political posturing, those issues fall prey to the same gridlock that has been epidemic in state capitols and Washington. With the presidential campaign accelerating, one other issue is getting more attention from party leaders and pundits; space.

A recent feature in Wired, “Is Space Getting Too Politicized?” acknowledges this fact. Obama’s controversial closing of the publicly-funded manned-space flight program at NASA opened the door for greater private/public collaboration. However, largely a result of the success of Space X, the private company that recently sent a rocket to the space station and back, manned space flight is back in the news. So is Obama’s handling of it. It’s likely that opponents will be looking at Obama’s track record on space as a possible weakness, especially considering a majority of Americans are in favor of space exploration (though they differ on how it should be done).

Also at issue is Russia’s rather ambitious plan for its own space exploration program, setting a goal of a manned exploratory mission to Mars by 2030. As the U.S. is currently depending on Russia’s program to send their astronauts to the space station (to the tune of millions of dollars), this doesn’t exactly put the Obama in a strong position politically. Of course, Russia has had its own share of blunders where their space program is considered, and is not exactly a sure thing when they discuss national goals. In addition, Obama hailed the collaboration of private leadership in space flight, and Space X has certainly show that to be possible.

Obama’s campaign approach seems to be to address the issue of space exploration as little as possible in the campaign. It’s certainly not foremost in the minds of voting Americans at the moment, and Obama’s other political priorities reflect that. Still, should space and NASA enter the political discourse, it will certainly become as politicized (i.e. polarized) as many of the other issues in the national political discussion. That does not bode well for the future of our domestic space program (private or public). As political parties and ideologues inevitably take issue with it, and develop contradicting positions on it, we’ll see further development of our space program halted by the same bickering that seems to have stalled everything else.