President Bush's announcement of a new U.S. space exploration initiative
and the efforts to rectify safety concerns and return the shuttle to
flight have put NASA in the spotlight this year both in the media and
in Congress. An April hearing of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on
Science, Technology, and Space examined how other countries' space programs
compare to that of the U.S., while a report released in March assesses
NASA's organizational culture and recommends a plan of action to improve
it.
SENATE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SPACE SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING:
"We are in a global competition for the future," announced
Senate STS Subcommittee Chairman Sam Brownback (R-KS), a competition
in which space will be "a key element." Witnesses at the April
27 hearing described the programs of other space-faring nations. During
the discussion, James Oberg of Soaring Hawk Productions, Inc. warned
that the U.S. is "never going to dominate entirely" in space
again.
According to John Logsdon of the George Washington University's Space
Policy Institute, Japan has sent, or plans to send, unmanned exploratory
spacecraft to many of the planets, the Moon, and an Earth-crossing asteroid.
It has hopes of being a key player in an international lunar base, but
spacecraft and launch failures have sidetracked its space program recently.
India's space program, he said, has been largely focused on technical
development and economic growth, but India is now showing interest in
solar system exploration, with intentions to send its first unmanned
mission to the Moon in 2007. Europe, said Logsdon, is "a very active
player already" in solar system exploration, and is studying the
possibility of a manned mission to Mars in the 2030-2040 time frame.
Marcia Smith of the Congressional Research Service noted that Russia
has operated seven successful space stations, and even though its space
budget was decimated with the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is still
interested in "the types of objectives laid out in President Bush's
vision." So far, she said, the President's message to other countries
has been that they are invited to help achieve exploration objectives
set out by the U.S. The Chinese hope to have a probe in lunar orbit
by 2007, reported Oberg. Their intent, he said, is to learn from the
mistakes that other countries have made, and to use their space program
to demonstrate the credibility of their technology to the rest of the
world. He estimated that China was about 12 years from its first manned
space flight, and suggested that the Chinese would be looking for a
goal that other countries are not considering, such as perhaps a trip
to a near-Earth asteroid.
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) questioned why the U.S. initiative included
returning to the Moon before heading to Mars. Oberg said the International
Space Station program has "taught us that we're not smart enough
yet" to build a spacecraft that does not need resupply; things
broke down faster than expected and required more spare parts than planned
for. Both Smith and Logsdon referred to potential resources on the Moon
that could be used for further missions. Smith added that while the
U.S. is a party to four U.N. treaties regulating space activities, it
is not a party to a fifth treaty regulating use of the Moon and its
resources.
Smith also emphasized the fact that President Bush's space exploration
proposal would, for the first time, make U.S. access to the space station
dependent on the Russians during the 2010-2014 period, after the shuttle
is retired but before a U.S.-built Crew Exploration Vehicle is expected
to be ready. "This is a profound change" in the U.S. approach
to international cooperation, she stated, and would depend on our future
relationship with Russia. Oberg pointed to the value of having dual
U.S. and Russian access to the station: "Each was there when the
other wasn't." "I just don't pick up enthusiasm in Congress
for continuing the shuttle much longer," Brownback said, even though
the expected lack of a U.S. human transport capability between 2010
and 2014 was one of senators' major concerns at an April 1 hearing he
chaired (see FYI #54).
Smith estimated that Russia spends approximately $500 million annually
on its space program, India spends about $450 million, China about $2
billion, and Europe spends $4.5 billion for civilian space programs
and approximately the same amount for military space programs. (NASA's
budget request for FY 2005 is $16.2 billion) Sven Grahn of the Swedish
Space Corporation explained how countries with small space budgets could
now, with advances in software and electronics, mount unmanned missions
using off-the-shelf, interchangeable components. Smith said that all
major space-faring nations have outreach to other partners; "it
usually boils down to money," she said.
Commenting that "I don't see anybody much saying we shouldn't
continue with manned exploration," Brownback indicated that he
was interested in working on an authorization bill incorporating President
Bush's exploration proposal.
PLAN FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE CHANGE AT NASA:
Earlier this year, NASA received the results of an evaluation of the
agency' s overall safety climate and culture. The March 15 report, produced
by Behavioral Science Technology, Inc. and entitled, "Assessment
and Plan for Organizational Culture Change at NASA," is available
on the NASA web site at www.nasa.gov/pdf/57382main_culture_web.pdf
.
The assessment found that while "there are many positive aspects
to the NASA culture," there are also "some important needs
for improvement. The present NASA culture does not yet fully reflect
the Agency's espoused core values of Safety, People, Excellence, and
Integrity." For the assessment, NASA employees were asked to complete
a survey rating the agency in the following categories: Procedural Justice;
Leader-Member Exchange; Management Credibility; Perceived Organizational
Support; Teamwork; Workgroup Relations; Safety Climate; Upward Communication;
and Approaching Others. According to the report, "The two scales
where NASA scores lowest are Perceived Organizational Support...and
Upward Communication." From additional questions, the report determined
that "There is a clear perception that budget constraints compromise
engineering and mission safety." The report found "a strong
sense of dedication and commitment to the Agency's work" among
employees, but also "frustration about a number of things,"
including the relationship between headquarters and the centers; competition
among the centers; impediments to speaking up; variability in leadership
and management skill levels; NASA's treatment of its contractors; and
confusion about the purposes of a number of new safety, management,
financial and return to flight initiatives.
In order to address the deficiencies found, the report lays out an
"approach to cultural transformation" that includes such recommendations
as leadership and management performance analysis, coaching and workshops;
behavioral observation and feedback processes; team effectiveness training;
and competency-based systems of performance management, hiring and promotion.
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