Alexander Dale

04/11/2018
PHYS - 1040
Van Ausdal
President Trump’s Vision for NASA
A look into the budget cuts proposed by POTUS and the future of AmerIca’s Space Program

“​ We choose to go the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy,
but because they are hard...”, these are the words spoken by United States president John F
Kennedy that ignited the space race so many decades ago. Despite opposition and doubt,
America was going to become determined on getting a man to the moon along with other space
exploration. This was largely in part due to the Soviets and their successful launch of the
Sputnik satellite and subsequent manned missions into space, beating the US into the stellar
unknown and launching the space race.(1)But now, almost 60 years later, it seems the current
president of the United States may have other ideas for America’s space travel and they aren’t
necessarily for the better.

In 2016, during the presidential campaign trail, the subject of space travel was not one that was
often visited due to other campaign topics such as taxes, immigration and gun reform; however
president-elect Trump did have a vision for America’s future in space. Robert Walker the
campaign’s space advisor commented on the space plan for the president being “visionary,
disruptive,coordinating, and resilient”(2), although these buzzwords left some question on what
exactly all that meant. One could argue disruptive may of been leaning towards an attempt to
get NASA to focus less on earth sciences and more towards space only exploration.(3)

Trump’s administration argue that NASA needs to deemphasize it’s earth focused studies,
leaving these areas of research and study to NOAA and USGS. According to space.com earth
studies make up approximately 10% of NASA’s 18.5 billion dollar budget for the 2016 fiscal year
(election year into Trump’s first year as president). (4)

Despite this idea of other organizations taking over our earth studies, it’s hard to imagine NASA
not playing a role in this field. For example when a U.S nuclear powered submarine collided with
an undersea mountain because they didn’t have updated ocean floor charts, the US Navy has
teamed up with NASA to help map the floor using satellites. By using satellites that closely
measure ocean floor features based on fluctuations in earth’s gravity fields have assisted NOAA
in better cartography of the ocean.(5) It is this example and many more that make a case
against President Trump’s plans for NASA. However this is NOT the most pressing issue facing
NASA under this new administration.

While the International Space Station (ISS) is aging,(6) it still plays an integral role in space
studies and further research in zero gravity. Currently NASA plans to see the ISS into 2024 (6),
however Trump has a uneducated interest in defunding the program and a vague plan to put US
astronauts back on the lunar surface. While this may sound ambitious the two issues are the
plan’s lack research into a creating and developing hardware for lunar travel and a seemingly
ignoring the vital role the ISS still has on space research.(7) It’s important to note that although
the ISS has aged since it was launch in 1995, NASA continues to keep up on maintaining the
station as well as adding modules for future experiments. In 2016 an inflatable module was
added to the ISS and has a minimum planned use into 2020.(8) Once again this is just one of
many examples that prove the integral role ISS and earth centered science continue to play,
and will for years to come.

Rolling into 2019, NASA has requested more money for this fiscal year from the Trump
administration. This increase comes with the proposed change in operating modes to
encouraging private space companies to focus their efforts on low earth missions while NASA
shifts to a more Lunar oriented mission set. (9). Combined with the success of companies like
SpaceX, Blue Origins and Virgin Atlantic it’s not hard to see low earth missions becoming a
commercial space race. But there is still turbulence under Trump’s administration, with the new
head of NASA being the 2nd item that is currently up in the air. (10).

Uncertainty is not something you want when it comes to space travel, and Trump’s current
attitude towards the program calls into more questions then he, or any of his cabinet members
seem to have answers. Our president speaks of going to the moon in the same way Kennedy
did so many years ago, but lacks bravado, confidence and the will power to see this idea
through. While the transition from one presidency to another is always a bit rocky, the casual
approach to the world’s greatest space program doesn’t help NASA’s public image, despite their
immense amounts of work and accomplishments in space flight.

1. “The Start of the Space Race.” Khan Academy,

www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-8/apush-1950s-america/a/the-st
art-of-the-space-race​.
2. Cofield, Calla. “What President Trump Means for NASA.” Space.com,
www.space.com/34677-president-trump-nasa-space-policy.html​.
3. Cofield, Calla. “What President Trump Means for NASA.” Space.com,
www.space.com/34677-president-trump-nasa-space-policy.html​.
4. https://www.nasa.gov/content/reach-for-new-heights-nasa-budget-unveiled-for-fiscal-yea
r-2016
5. Loff, Sarah. “New Seafloor Map Helps Scientists Find New Features.” NASA, NASA, 13
Jan. 2016,
www.nasa.gov/image-feature/new-seafloor-map-helps-scientists-find-new-features​.
6. Fecht, Sarah. “How Many Years Does The Space Station Have Left?” Popular Science,
3 Nov. 2015, ​www.popsci.com/how-many-years-does-space-station-have-left​.
7. Grush, Loren. “Trump's Budget for NASA Defunds the Space Station and Includes
Vague Plans for the Moon.” The Verge, The Verge, 12 Feb. 2018,
www.theverge.com/2018/2/12/17002230/trump-budget-request-nasa-2019-international-
space-station-moon​.
8. Mathewson, Samantha. “BEAM Inflatable Space Habitat Has Successful 1st Year in
Orbit.” Space.com, ​www.space.com/37068-beam-inflatable-habitat-first-year-space.html​.
9. Wall, Mike. “Trump's 2019 NASA Budget Request Puts Moon Ahead of Space Station.”
Space.com, Space.com, 12 Feb. 2018,
www.space.com/39671-trump-nasa-budget-2019-funds-moon-over-iss.html​.
10. Chang, Kenneth. “Robert Lightfoot, NASA's Acting Administrator, to Retire as Trump's
Nominee Is Stalled.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/science/robert-lightfoot-nasa-retirement.html​.
11.