Tags: NASA, Space Foundation, Civil Space
Publication: AOL.com
Publication Date: 12/04/2012

Launch of the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in June 2011. Image credit: NASA

The Space Foundation, a global nonprofit organization focused on space awareness and education, released a report this week about U.S. leadership in space where it makes recommendations for strengthening the country’s civil space program and NASA.

For "Pioneering: Sustaining U.S. Leadership in Space," the foundation conducted a yearlong research to reveal that NASA is lacking a consistent primary goal to follow mainly because shifting priorities from Congress and different presidential administrations.

Besides pinpointing NASA’s problems and challenges, the 70-page report also recommends how the country can go back to being on top of the space industry. One of which is to centralize decisions about the space program to one clear figure to help decide what the focus will be.

But the foundation’s main recommendation is going back to NASA’s old motto and concentrating in being pioneers of the industry turning theoretical knowledge gained through exploration missions into real technology for long-term programs. All activities that do not serve this purpose should be transitioned to other government and private entities.

The recommendations go from a technical to a political perspective, detailing what figures should be appointed for the agency and how long should these leaderships last, how Congress should act, and how the program should be funded.

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