Category Archives: NASA

NASA, space and science spending

Eating our Seed Corn

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NASA’s Budget Cuts Hit a Rover

It turns out that (according to this blog entry at CNN) NASA’s budget cuts and cost overruns in another Mars program now mean that some scientists in the Mars Rover program will lose their jobs and that the Mars Spirit Rover will be shut down (hibernated) to save money. It may be awakened again (presumably if the money ever comes back).

So… we cut jobs at NASA, put a working spacecraft to sleep, and this benefits the country how? Is that saved money going to education? Health care? Human services? Skeptical cat is skeptical.

UPDATE: A hearty thanks and a polite curtsy to Fred Kiesche of TexasBestGrok, who points out in the comments that apparently there’s a change of plan for the MER missions. Now, according to AP and other sources, the Mars Rovers won’t be cut or shut down. Good news. I wonder what happened to cause that turnaround?

astronomy education, Astronomy outreach, NASA

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Generation Y Internet-savvy

But Expects Different Things from NASA

I read an article yesterday about a discussion at a symposium held by NASA, the National Space Society, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics that explored the attitudes toward space held by Generation Y. These 8- to 31-year-olds are where the next generation of taxpaying space enthusiasts are coming from, but it seems that they’re not so connected to space in the same their parents and grandparents have been. This information is not a terribly big surprise, coming as it does at a time when budgets for space exploration, science education, and research are heading downhill at the same time we have a huge rise in the technology of global interconnectivity.

It’s also not too surprising that this generation, when pressed for information on their interests in space, seems to be saying that NASA needs to give them more real-time insight and connectivity to the topics being explored by the agency. Gen Y is the first to be so totally connected for most of their lives by the Internet and instant communications for much of their lives. They’re comfortable with globalization and want to be involved in science and exploration, but aren’t too interested in hearing about the past glories of space exploration.

This is interesting food for thought for educators and science center folk who are reaching out to this age group. I’ve been in many a conversation with such colleagues, and some are still wondering what these audiences want. Or, they’re trying to tailor currently accessible programming to this generation’s tastes. It’s a challenge, but not too different from the ones outreach people have always faced when trying to get the word out about science and exploration to vastly different generations.