Political sustainability in the vision for space exploration : articulating the policy-technology feedback cycle

It is often difficult to forecast the future budgetary environment for today's space systems. Indeed, multiple NASA missions and programs have been put into jeopardy or canceled outright, due to discrepancies between the expected and actual lifecycle costs. This has resulted in the loss of billions of dollars in taxpayer money spent on false starts. It is therefore in the best interests of all stakeholders, including NASA and the U.S. Congress, to arrive at a solution which will allow NASA's space exploration endeavors to be funded at a politically sustainable level. Understanding the mechanisms and processes by which a program may exhibit politically sustainability is of paramount importance to the space exploration enterprise. In particular, budgetary sustainability has proven to be a driver for The President's Vision for Space Exploration, which instructs NASA to "Implement a sustained and affordable" space exploration program. NASA, as a federal agency, is dependent upon the support of many stakeholders within the US political system, especially the President and members of Congress. Thus, a politically sustainable program must address the needs of these stakeholders.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Broniatowski, David André, 1982-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Annalisa L. Weigel.

• Aeronautics and Astronautics.
• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35586

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/35586