NASA’s problem is that it continues to employ a supply-side policy of investing in space. This is true for both the large manned space station and the industrial space facility (ISF). The development of hardware for the space station, for example, is far ahead of the development of experiments for the station. The science community that is dependent on NASA funding is properly concerned that, as with the shuttle, the station budget will make demands on NASA’s budget at the expense of planetary and space science.
The industrial space facility appears to be another example of such supply-side space policy. NASA wants to go ahead, even though no one has a clear sense of user requirements and priorities. The ISF is touted both as a near-term low-cost replacement for the space station and as a bridge to the development of the station. While one of these characterizations may be right, ...
