How NASA Might Change Under Donald Trump

Although details are still changing, the transition team is reviewing NASA Its campaign has begun drafting potential executive orders to change the Trump administration’s space policy.

Sources familiar with the five-person team are careful to note that the teams are advisory in nature. They do not formally set policy, and their work does not always indicate the direction the incoming presidential administration will take.

Still, in trying to set clear goals for NASA and civilian space policy, the ideas being considered reflect the Trump administration’s desire for “significant changes” at NASA, both in terms of improving the effectiveness of its programs and In terms of speed.

Abnormal

The transition team has been grappling with an agency that has too many field centers (ten spread across the U.S., as well as a formal headquarters in Washington, D.C.) and large, slow-moving projects that cost a lot of money and lack the ability to deliver results. Very slow.

“This will not be business as usual,” said a person familiar with the group’s meetings. The mindset that drives their deliberations is a focus on results and speed.

In less than a month from now, on January 20, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president for his second term. issue a series of executive orders. That could include space policy, but is more likely to wait until later in his presidency.

One source said the space transition team has been studying ideas that Trump has spoken about publicly, including his interest in Mars. For example, in a campaign speech this fall, Trump mentioned SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who was instrumental in providing time and money during the campaign, and his desire to colonize Mars.

“We’re ahead of Russia and China in space… That’s my plan and I’ll talk to Elon about it,” Trump said in September. “Elon gets these rocket ships going because we want to get to Mars by the end of my term, and we also want to have strong military protection in space.”

ideas under consideration

The transition team has been discussing possible elements of an executive order or other policy directives. They include:

• Set a goal of sending humans to the moon and Mars by 2028
• Cancel expensive Space Launch System rocket and possible Orion spacecraft
• Merging Goddard Space Flight Center and Ames Research Center at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama
• Keep a small administrative presence in Washington, D.C., but move headquarters to the center of the field
• Quickly redesign the Artemis moon landing program to make it more efficient