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By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including title IV of the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (Public Law 114-90), it is hereby ordered as follows:Section 1. Policy. Space Policy Directive-1 of December 11, 2017 (Reinvigorating America’s Human Space Exploration Program), provides that commercial partners will participate in an “innovative and sustainable program” headed by the United States to “lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations.” Successful long-term exploration and...

President Bush has signed a new National Space Policy that (snip), asserts a right to deny access to space to anyone "hostile to U.S. interests… Space has become an even more important component of U.S. economic, national and homeland security." The military has become increasingly dependent on satellite communication and navigation, as have providers of cellphones, personal navigation devices and even ATMs. Protecting U.S. satellites and spacecraft may require "deception, disruption, denial, degradation and destruction." Some sections of the 1996 Clinton policy and the Bush are classified. There are many similarities in the unclassified portions, and the NSC and the...

U.S. President George W. Bush has authorized a sweeping new national space policy, green-lighting an overarching national policy that governs the conduct of America's space activities. The new policy supports not only a Moon, Mars and beyond exploration agenda, but also responds to a post 9/11 world of terrorist actions, such as the need for intelligence-gathering internal and external to the United States. U.S. assets must be unhindered in carrying out their space duties, the Bush space policy says, stressing that "freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power." Without...

Apollo 11 on Human Achievement Day By Edward Hudgins ehudgins@objectivistcenter.org There are holidays and days of commemoration stretching from New Year's to Independence Day to Christmas. A new one should be added to the calendar - informally rather than by government decree: Human Achievement Day -- July 20th, the date in 1969 when human beings first landed on the Moon. The most obvious benefit of living in society with others is that we can each specialize in the production of goods and services at which we are best and then trade with others, making us all prosperous. But in society...

Private Space Triumph By Edward Hudgins Washington Director ehudgins@objectivistcenter.org Private Space Triumph! Private entrepreneurs again have triumphed! On September 29 SpaceShipOne, built by Burt Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, completed its first flight in pursuit of the $10 million Ansari X Prize. The money was secured by private individuals and will be paid to the first private party to put a craft capable of carrying three individuals into space twice in a two-week period. Rutan's rocket had its first test flight over the 100-kilometer limit on June 21 and with the success of the...

<p>If Boston University expects a new president with a light touch after the prickly 30-year reign of John Silber, the school appears unlikely to get it in Daniel S. Goldin, the former NASA chief offered the BU presidency this week.</p>

<p>For more than two decades, people from around the world have lined the shores near Kennedy Space Center to watch humans fly into orbit aboard NASA's space shuttles. It's a sight that never fails to take the breath away.</p> <p>Going from a standstill to 17,400 mph in slightly more than eight minutes, the ships have a remarkable record of achievement, from rescuing stranded satellites to fixing the Hubble Space Telescope to building the International Space Station.</p>

There's an old joke about the man who asks his neighbor to turn down the loud, raucous noise emitting from her stereo."What's the matter, are you a music hater?" "No," he replies, "I'm a music lover." I'm reminded of this by the calls of some over the years to end the space-shuttle program, even (perhaps especially) by people who are frustrated by our lack of progress in space. In the wake of the latest tragedy, the calls will undoubtedly grow louder, but in many cases, even if correct, they will be for the wrong reasons, and may not lead to...