Note: This post has been edited.
I've been kicking around the idea of writing members of the National Space Council after hearing all the commentary from the last meeting. I've been busy but this morning I finally took a moment to draft a letter to the Vice President.
I haven't sent this yet as I think I could do better. I'm trying to keep it to one page as I'm sure their office gets a ton of letters. Once I'm done I'll print it out and sign it and mail it in.
Do I think that this will actually have any effect? I doubt it, but I always want to have the view in the future that at least I said something.
EDIT: I sent the below letter to the office of the Vice President earlier this week.
I've also written letters to other agencies on the NSC; I've included a copy of that letter as well following the one to the Vice President. That letter is basically the same minus some word changes.
-------------------------
[ DRAFT ]
To: The White House
Office of the Vice President
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr Vice President,
I am writing you since you are the chair of the newly formed National Space Council (NSC) of what I think America’s goals in space for the next decade should be.
I found your comments during the NSC event to be encouraging, but I am concerned that the funding that needs to be provided will not be there. As the saying goes, “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.” We should seek to get Congress to increase our spending in space related activities both on the civilian and military side. I propose that we seek to increase NASA’s budget by 10 to 20 billion dollars from its current funding of around 18 billion and seek to encourage more fixed price contracts with private space industry to better accomplish American goals in space. The recent NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) programs highlight how effective these programs can be in developing resources for much better cost than when government attempts to do the same.
I believe that in addition to expanding funding that we should seek to expand the human presence in space. Human spaceflight has been mostly in low-earth orbit for the past decade. I believe it is time to expand our reach to cis-lunar space; or the space between Earth and the moon as well as on the lunar surface. There are very good reasons to do so - in order to study what a long term manned mission to Mars would look like, we can simulate and study the effects on the human body with the appropriate infrastructure in cis-lunar space. This includes both long term duration flights away from Earth’s magnetic influence as well as studying the effects of the human body in a low-G environment such as on the lunar surface.
In addition to studying the effects of the human body around and on the lunar surface, there has always been speculation that there are potential resources that could be mined or acquired on the lunar surface. While this is all speculation, we should strive to answer these questions once and for all by developing and installing the needed hardware around and on the lunar surface.
To accomplish these objectives, we need to modify our existing legislative framework. The current Outer Space Treaty was written back in the 1960s and contains items that are stifling innovation and commercialization in space. We need the legal ability to establish land rights on other celestial bodies as well as the need to allow current technological advancements to function in space without legal hassle from ourselves and other nations.
There is a real need for America to assert itself as an enterprising nation once again. The security issues of not having the high ground such as in cis-lunar space are obvious. China is seeking to expand their role in space and are doing so at an impressive rate. And there is a real need to bring back the enterprising spirit of Americans to the forefront of the world to show that we will never stop being an adventurous people. When America seeks to get something done, we will not stop until we succeed.
Thank you,
[ BLANK ]
---------------
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing about the newly formed National Space Council (NSC) of what I think America’s goals in space for the next decade should be. I understand that this agency is a member of that council.
I found the comments during the NSC event to be encouraging, but I am concerned that the funding that needs to be provided will not be there. As the saying goes, “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.” We should seek to get Congress to increase our spending in space related activities both on the civilian and military side. I propose that we seek to increase NASA’s budget by 10 to 20 billion dollars from its current funding of around 18 billion and seek to encourage more fixed price contracts with private space industry to better accomplish American goals in space. The recent NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) programs highlight how effective these programs can be in developing resources for much better cost than when government attempts to do the same.
I believe that in addition to expanding funding that we should seek to expand the human presence in space. Human spaceflight has been mostly in low-earth orbit for the past decade. I believe it is time to expand our reach to cis-lunar space; or the space between Earth and the moon as well as on the lunar surface. There are very good reasons to do so - in order to study what a long term manned mission to Mars would look like, we can simulate and study the effects on the human body with the appropriate infrastructure in cis-lunar space. This includes both long term duration flights away from Earth’s magnetic influence as well as studying the effects of the human body in a low-G (low gravity) environment such as on the lunar surface.
In addition to studying the effects of the human body around and on the lunar surface, there has always been speculation that there are potential resources that could be mined or acquired on the lunar surface. While this is all speculation, we should strive to answer these questions once and for all by developing and installing the needed hardware around and on the lunar surface.
To accomplish these objectives, we need to modify our existing legislative framework. The current Outer Space Treaty was written back in the 1960s and contains items that are stifling innovation and commercialization in space. We need the legal ability to establish land rights on other celestial bodies as well as the need to allow current technological advancements to function in space without legal hassle from ourselves and other nations.
There is a real need for America to assert itself as an enterprising nation once again. The security issues of not having the high ground such as in cis-lunar space are obvious. China is seeking to expand their role in space and are doing so at an impressive rate. And there is a real need to bring back the enterprising spirit of Americans to the forefront of the world to show that we will never stop being an adventurous people. When America seeks to get something done, we will not stop until we succeed.
Thank you,
[ BLANK ]
I've been kicking around the idea of writing members of the National Space Council after hearing all the commentary from the last meeting. I've been busy but this morning I finally took a moment to draft a letter to the Vice President.
I haven't sent this yet as I think I could do better. I'm trying to keep it to one page as I'm sure their office gets a ton of letters. Once I'm done I'll print it out and sign it and mail it in.
Do I think that this will actually have any effect? I doubt it, but I always want to have the view in the future that at least I said something.
EDIT: I sent the below letter to the office of the Vice President earlier this week.
I've also written letters to other agencies on the NSC; I've included a copy of that letter as well following the one to the Vice President. That letter is basically the same minus some word changes.
-------------------------
[ DRAFT ]
To: The White House
Office of the Vice President
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr Vice President,
I am writing you since you are the chair of the newly formed National Space Council (NSC) of what I think America’s goals in space for the next decade should be.
I found your comments during the NSC event to be encouraging, but I am concerned that the funding that needs to be provided will not be there. As the saying goes, “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.” We should seek to get Congress to increase our spending in space related activities both on the civilian and military side. I propose that we seek to increase NASA’s budget by 10 to 20 billion dollars from its current funding of around 18 billion and seek to encourage more fixed price contracts with private space industry to better accomplish American goals in space. The recent NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) programs highlight how effective these programs can be in developing resources for much better cost than when government attempts to do the same.
I believe that in addition to expanding funding that we should seek to expand the human presence in space. Human spaceflight has been mostly in low-earth orbit for the past decade. I believe it is time to expand our reach to cis-lunar space; or the space between Earth and the moon as well as on the lunar surface. There are very good reasons to do so - in order to study what a long term manned mission to Mars would look like, we can simulate and study the effects on the human body with the appropriate infrastructure in cis-lunar space. This includes both long term duration flights away from Earth’s magnetic influence as well as studying the effects of the human body in a low-G environment such as on the lunar surface.
In addition to studying the effects of the human body around and on the lunar surface, there has always been speculation that there are potential resources that could be mined or acquired on the lunar surface. While this is all speculation, we should strive to answer these questions once and for all by developing and installing the needed hardware around and on the lunar surface.
To accomplish these objectives, we need to modify our existing legislative framework. The current Outer Space Treaty was written back in the 1960s and contains items that are stifling innovation and commercialization in space. We need the legal ability to establish land rights on other celestial bodies as well as the need to allow current technological advancements to function in space without legal hassle from ourselves and other nations.
There is a real need for America to assert itself as an enterprising nation once again. The security issues of not having the high ground such as in cis-lunar space are obvious. China is seeking to expand their role in space and are doing so at an impressive rate. And there is a real need to bring back the enterprising spirit of Americans to the forefront of the world to show that we will never stop being an adventurous people. When America seeks to get something done, we will not stop until we succeed.
Thank you,
[ BLANK ]
---------------
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing about the newly formed National Space Council (NSC) of what I think America’s goals in space for the next decade should be. I understand that this agency is a member of that council.
I found the comments during the NSC event to be encouraging, but I am concerned that the funding that needs to be provided will not be there. As the saying goes, “No bucks, no Buck Rogers.” We should seek to get Congress to increase our spending in space related activities both on the civilian and military side. I propose that we seek to increase NASA’s budget by 10 to 20 billion dollars from its current funding of around 18 billion and seek to encourage more fixed price contracts with private space industry to better accomplish American goals in space. The recent NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) programs highlight how effective these programs can be in developing resources for much better cost than when government attempts to do the same.
I believe that in addition to expanding funding that we should seek to expand the human presence in space. Human spaceflight has been mostly in low-earth orbit for the past decade. I believe it is time to expand our reach to cis-lunar space; or the space between Earth and the moon as well as on the lunar surface. There are very good reasons to do so - in order to study what a long term manned mission to Mars would look like, we can simulate and study the effects on the human body with the appropriate infrastructure in cis-lunar space. This includes both long term duration flights away from Earth’s magnetic influence as well as studying the effects of the human body in a low-G (low gravity) environment such as on the lunar surface.
In addition to studying the effects of the human body around and on the lunar surface, there has always been speculation that there are potential resources that could be mined or acquired on the lunar surface. While this is all speculation, we should strive to answer these questions once and for all by developing and installing the needed hardware around and on the lunar surface.
To accomplish these objectives, we need to modify our existing legislative framework. The current Outer Space Treaty was written back in the 1960s and contains items that are stifling innovation and commercialization in space. We need the legal ability to establish land rights on other celestial bodies as well as the need to allow current technological advancements to function in space without legal hassle from ourselves and other nations.
There is a real need for America to assert itself as an enterprising nation once again. The security issues of not having the high ground such as in cis-lunar space are obvious. China is seeking to expand their role in space and are doing so at an impressive rate. And there is a real need to bring back the enterprising spirit of Americans to the forefront of the world to show that we will never stop being an adventurous people. When America seeks to get something done, we will not stop until we succeed.
Thank you,
[ BLANK ]
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