Pretty interesting.

Neither candidate spoke much about space during the 2016 election, but just before Trump was elected president, he outlined a plan for NASA to move from an Earth-monitoring agency to one devoted to exploration.
When Obama took office, he told NASA to ditch the plan to revisit the moon and concentrate on sending humans to Mars in the 2030s, but Trump has set the space agency only one goal.

The president-elect wants NASA to explore the furthest reaches of the solar system by the end of the century, according to Space Policy Online.

“I will free NASA from the restriction of serving primarily as a logistics agency for low Earth orbit activity… Instead we will refocus its mission on space exploration.”

Trump’s new space plan, still a little short on details, focuses on eliminating bureaucratic waste, promoting a private-public partnership, and setting ambitious goals for NASA that will force the agency to stretch itself.

It’s the same kind of goal Kennedy gave NASA in 1961 when he instructed the agency to catch up and overtake the Soviet Union to win the space race.

In the weeks and months leading up to the election, neither candidate had much to say about space and the presidential debates didn’t even mention NASA.

After the second debate, SpaceNews sent both Clinton and Trump a series of questions asking about their plans for NASA, which was followed up by a questionnaire from Scientific American a few weeks later. Clinton praised NASA and dropped the names of space super stars like a pro while Trump gave short vaguely worded answers devoid of any specifics.

Then, shortly before Election Day, the new president-elect recruited former Republican congressman Robert Walker, who chaired the Science, Space, and Technology Committee in the 1990s, to help draft a plan for NASA.
Trump’s new space policy, heavily influenced by Walker, is designed to coordinate public and private efforts to maximize American efforts to explore the entire solar system. That includes mining valuable minerals from the asteroid belt and visiting Jupiter’s moon Europa, perhaps the best place to find alien life near Earth.

Trump plans to bring back the National Space Council, last in operation under George H.W. Bush, explore deep space, and encourage commercial partners to build a new economy in low Earth orbit, Walker told Mother Jones.
“If you’re looking at technology that looks for the solar system, you are then likely to move toward plasma rockets, toward nuclear-powered rockets, certainly toward solar sails.”

The space council, headed by the vice president, would be charged with making sure each partner, NASA, the military, and commercial partners, are all playing their proper role.

The new president-elect also has plans to abandon climate research, transfer Earth monitoring funding from NASA to NOAA, and strengthen the U.S. military’s stance in orbit.

Trump’s administration plans to eliminate many of the redundancies facing the American space program today. NASA is currently building a massive rocket known as the Space Launch System (SLS), but there are private companies also working on heavy rockets capable of deep space travel.

Ditching the NASA launch vehicle and relying on private spaceships would free up federal funds for other space-related projects, which would reduce costs, create jobs, and promote growth.

With better cooperation between the government and private companies, federal funds could be better utilized to help America explore the solar system, U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, who is on the short list to head NASA, told SpaceNews.
“The United States of America is the only nation that can protect space for the free world and for responsible entities, and preserves space for generations to come. America must forever be the preeminent spacefaring nation.”

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And this is the GOP congressman--a former Navy pilot and enthusiastic space exploration advocate--apparently being considered for the role of NASA Administrator.

Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), a former Navy pilot who is one of Congress’s leading space exploration advocates, has had informal conversations with the Trump campaign about serving as NASA administrator or secretary of the Air Force, according to an official close to the congressman who is not authorized to speak publicly.

“He’s made it clear to the campaign that if asked to serve as NASA Administrator or Air Force secretary, he would be willing,” the official said. The person added that there would likely be “a clearer path to NASA” than the Air Force.

Bridenstine is a member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus that has often clashed with House Republican leaders. He was a strong backer of Trump during the election — so much so, he threatened to withdraw his support from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) after Ryan said he would no longer campaign for or defend Trump.

Other names that have been floated in space circles include Mike Griffin, who served as NASA administrator under George W. Bush, and Eileen Collins, the first female commander of a space shuttle mission who spoke at the Republican National Convention.

Earlier this year, Bridenstine, who endorsed Trump, introduced the American Space Renaissance Act, which touches virtually every aspect of space, including national security, NASA, how to manage space debris and regulate the commercial space industry.

We need another great war to boost our technology to a level where we actually gain from space.

Trump will erase China from existence

He's gonna build a wall in the sky to keep the aliens out

He's gonna build a wall in the sky to keep the aliens out

ok really tho that admittedly sounds pretty neat

shield world when?

Quote from: http://www.sep7agon.net on November 14, 2016, 09:47:02 AM

He's gonna build a wall in the sky to keep the aliens out

Quote from: http://www.sep7agon.net on November 14, 2016, 09:49:28 AM

ok really tho that admittedly sounds pretty neat

shield world when?

the interior surface of the shell will be just one giant golf course

I actually think that NASA (at least, the space side of things) could do well under Trump. Being the president that put people on Mars would definitely feed his ego.

Quote from: BaconShelf on November 14, 2016, 09:58:38 AM

Eugh. I hope this doesn't mean yet another change of directive for NASA. This business of changing policies every four years just slows development.

Hopefully NASA are able to concentrate on Mars still.

Well if we could just fucking find a way to travel longer distances in space Europa is actually a much better destination.

Is it?

Pros-
-Undersea ocean may harbour life

Cons-
-Jupiter's glowing blue fields of death would make human habitation almost impossible, even with our radiation protection.
-It's extremely hard to get through the ice to the sea
-Much higher cost and travel times
-Less sunlight means less energy.

Mars on the other hand is great.

Pros-
-Fairly close to Earth
-Phobos and Deimos are perfect places to construct fuel reserves in the moons' ice, to act as gateways both to Mars and to the outer system
-Less fuel cost than Jupiter
-Mars' existing resources can be used to create radiation shielding underground
-And also fuel
-Sunlight is more powerful for solar panels
-Only a twenty minute light gap as opposed to hours
-Can mine out airtight bunkers for habitation

Cons-
-Radiation (not as much as europa)
-Cold (but not cold enough to be unworkable)
-Essentially (for practical purposes) a vaccuum. But this is sort of a nonissue

Mars is a much better place to go first.

Mars on the other hand is great.

And already firmly in the sights of firms like SpaceX. Government is good for both basic science research and pushing the fringes of technology; investment in exploratory technology will be more broadly beneficial than simply gathering information about Europa.

If NASA gets more funding because of this I will consider this an upside to Trump being president.

If NASA gets more funding because of this I will consider this an upside to Trump being president.

More likely the money from environmental science stuff will just be put into the space program instead.

NASA hurry the fuck up with the James Webb Telescope already.

More importantly, bring back the Constellation Program and give me my moonbase dammit.

Quote from: BaconShelf on November 14, 2016, 11:37:12 AM

Quote from: TBlocks on November 14, 2016, 11:27:38 AM

If NASA gets more funding because of this I will consider this an upside to Trump being president.

More likely the money from environmental science stuff will just be put into the space program instead.

Fucking fuck

I believe what he's saying is correct. Space exploration is great and all, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of Earth's environmental conservation efforts. Redirecting NASA's efforts away from climate research is a horrendous idea because they're obviously some of the most qualified and well-equipped people to perform it.

Also he wants to strengthen the military's presence in orbit, which is... I don't like that. Space shouldn't be militarized, although I doubt there's anything we can really do about that at this point.

Quote from: TBlocks on November 14, 2016, 11:51:27 AM

Quote from: BaconShelf on November 14, 2016, 11:37:12 AM

Quote from: TBlocks on November 14, 2016, 11:27:38 AM

If NASA gets more funding because of this I will consider this an upside to Trump being president.

More likely the money from environmental science stuff will just be put into the space program instead.

Fucking fuck

the planet's already fucked beyond saving

space exploration is literally our only hope to survive

I can't think of a situation in the near future where sending people into space would be anywhere near as efficient as toughing it out on Earth.

Overpopulation? You'd have to transport hundreds of thousands offworld every day just to keep even with population growth.

Global Warming? Flooding and the like would be disastrous, sure, but I don't see how going into space would be any easier.

Nukes/ Asteroids/ Supervolcano/ whatever? Living in a bunker would still ultimately be easier. No disaster event would be threatening enough to make living on Mars or something more profitable than living in a similar bunker on Earth, with the added bonus of being able to scavenge and recover existing infrastructure. Even if it came to the worst, Earth still has an atmosphere, radiation shielding, liquid water and livable temperatures which aren't present anywhere else in the solar system.

Going into space is cool and I'm a big advocate for extraterrestrial resource extraction and whatnot, but until we have the technology it's a meme that isn't viable nor practical.