The Biden administration remains on the path set by the Trump administration when it comes to space, at least for now.
Why does it matter: Administrations often abandon the goals of their predecessors in favor of new ones when they come to power. This type of “moon blow” can leave NASA stuck on Earth, because it takes coherence between administrations to achieve large exploration goals.
News management: Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced plans to continue the Artemis program to land the first woman and next man on the moon’s surface.
- The administration threw its weight behind the Space Force, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the new military branch has “the full support of the Biden administration.”
- “I am very proud of the Biden administration for complying with these very important measures,” Jim Bridenstine, Trump’s NASA administrator, told me. “My goal from day one was to create a sustainable program that could move from one administration to another.”
- The Biden administration also reaffirms the importance of climate change research at NASA, appointing Gavin Schmidt as the agency’s chief climate advisor, a new role that should help lead NASA’s climate research.
Yes but: While some political appointments have been made to NASA, the administration has not yet submitted a nomination for the NASA administrator, a key position that will lead the course of the space agency.
- The first Artemis mission was expected to bring people to the surface of the Moon by 2024, but this seems less likely now, and some recommend that the landing date be moved back for safety and funding reasons.
- Experts also wonder how space-based space policy and directives will be managed under this administration, due to the possible dissolution of the National Space Council.
Between the lines: So far, many of Biden’s space news moments have been due to questions from the press, not statements from the administration that conducted the news themselves.
- “They weren’t very interested in space,” unlike the Trump administration, Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told me. “It wasn’t part of the campaign, and apparently it’s not something they took the time to rush into and really dive into.”
What to look for: Even if the space now seems to be on the radar for Biden, the real test will be how much funding he proposes in the administration’s budget.
- “You can say all the great words in the world about Artemis,” Casey Dreier of the Planetary Society told me. “You can say all the wonderful things you want about NASA, but when it comes to that, NASA needs resources to succeed.”