During the 1990s when I used to work on the space program, the US lawmakers (president Reagan and Congress at that time) made the worst decision on the future of the space station: they canceled the USA-space station in favor of an international version of it. Some of the consequences of that decision included: 1) it pushed back the space station by more than a decade (i.e. we still haven’t finished it!), 2) it created dependencies on countries, particularly Russia, 3) it has cost much more to build than it would have if original plans had remained, and 4) it affected (eliminated?) thousands US engineering jobs.
The current administration have made the decision to retire the Space Shuttle by 2011 i.e. *before* the next generation manned spacecraft (Orion/Ares) will be ready, thus, leaving a gap for the US and the US presence in the space station. This is totally stupid — remember, the US has carried the bulk of the cost, work, *risk*, and technology building the space station, including losing crewmen in the process.
Political incompetence and bad decisions is the reason why the future of the USA space program is the private (commercial) sector.
Russia and China and others will push forward… and they should.
Global relationships are important, but business is business and there are things that you can’t just delegate to others especially when we all know the thing call “political climate” is always in a state of flux.
I will say it again, the future of the USA space travel is the private (commercial) sector.
See NASA chief blasts US space policy in leaked email (The Register).
ceo