The last two weeks have been highly positive and dynamic for space, and are definitely a sign of “early ebullience“.

Although the STS 124 astronauts came down last Saturday (6/14), most of the rest of us still haven’t! The near “perfect” Shuttle mission, featuring delivery of the Japanese Kibo module to International Space Station (ISS), and the recent discovery of ice on Mars by Phoenix suggest we are approaching another golden age in space science and human spaceflight, known here as a Maslow Window.

This ebullient impression is strengthened by a new Gallup poll released this week that shows solid support for NASA (71%). However, fewer (52%) favor increasing NASA’s budget a modest amount to enable our planned Moontrips. This is characteristic of pre-Maslow times; the Maslow Window should arrive around 2013-2015.

Confidence in NASA’s ability to flourish despite future competition from the Chinese space program is comforting on the one hand, but also reminiscent American attitudes of the mid-1950s just prior to the surprise launch of Sputnik. Likewise, the American public’s relative lack of concern about the 5-year gap (after the Shuttle retires in 2010) in NASA’s ability to launch to ISS also bespeaks our current pre-Maslow mindset.

China will play an enormous role in the coming race to space, and I’ve given you 10 reasons to believe that. However, the style (e.g., mix of competition vs. cooperation) of international space development that eventuates will be strongly influenced by geopolitical factors. If we decide to have a “Grand Alliance for Space” — which may be driven by strategic, energy, and environmental factors — my Interspace model is a stimulating way to start the discussion.

One thing’s for sure: Lots of people have paid lots of coins to either get married in space, have their honeymoon there, or just just enjoy the life-altering trip up to 60 miles! While indicative of the public’s increasing thirst for space, the long-term viability of the space tourism industry depends on safety and the economy.

Because of the importance of a favorable geopolitical situation and of economic growth to both governmental and private space (and non-space) activities, the choice of our next president is huge. Early opinion polls do not yet point to a winner but, as we’ve indicated before, long-term trends in the economy and society tend to favor McCain, although it appears that Obama might take more of a Kennedy-style approach to space. We’ll devote more to this in future posts.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS