10/18/2019

1

Astronomy 4800 – Space Science: Practice & Policy

ASTR 4800 - Space Science: Practice & PolicyToday: Rising Above the Gathering Storm

• Next Class: Overview of NASA’s Authorization & Appropriations Process

• Read Chapter 4 in Beyond Sputnik.

• Interview with a Space Scientist paper – names and bios due to me by Oct. 21!

Astronomy 4800 – Space Science: Practice & Policy

Space in the News: UK eases sanctions on Moscow to allow activities related to joint space mission to Mars

Presenter: Rohith Chandramouli

Rising Above the Gathering Storm

By Matt Brawley and Caelan Burke-Kaiser

Overview of the Report

- Created by the Nationals Academies

- It covers:

- Education

- R&D funding

- The environment

- Childrens’ interest in STEM fields

Comparisons to Vannevar Bush’s Science, The Endless Frontier (Similarities)

- The need for scientific advancement

- Military defense technology and “areas of

national need”

- The need for basic research

- Increase of funding (10% over 7 years)

- Both show how it helps the economy with the

creation of new jobs and products

- Importance of educating the youth

Comparisons to Vannevar Bush’s Science, The Endless Frontier (Differences)

- Necessity for high quality jobs for

Americans in the U.S.

- Need for clean, reliable, affordable

energy

- Human, financial, and knowledge

capital required for U.S. prosperity

10/18/2019

2

Why the Report was Requested

- A bipartisan group of Senators requested

the advice of the national academies

- Top actions that lawmakers can undertake

to enhance science and technology in the

U.S.

- Concrete steps that can be taken to

ensure America technological prosperity

- Globalization has made the job market in

STEM fields more competitive

Committee Overview

- Former chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin

- Former Secretary of Defense and president of Texas A&M

- Nobel Laureate, former Secretary of Energy

- President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and first African-

American woman to earn a doctorate at MIT

- CEO and chairman of Exxon Mobil

- Former president of MIT and former president of the National

Academy of Engineering

K-12 Education

- Improving the skills of 250,000

teachers

- Annually recruit 10,000 teachers

in math and science to

- Increase the number of students

who pass AP and IB science and

math

- Discussion: How would you

improve our education system?

Science and Engineering Research

- Double basic research funding over 7 years

- $500,000 grants to 200 new researchers

- Create a national coordination office for

advanced research instrumentation and

facilities

- 8% of the budget of federal research agencies

to discretionary funding

- DARPA but for energy (ARPA-E)

- Presidential Innovation Award for advances in

the national interest.

ARPA-E

In millions of USD

10/18/2019

3

Invest more in STEM since it has become our economy!

1970 largest American

companies:

- General Motors

- Exxon Mobil

- Ford

- General Electric

2019 largest American

companies:

- Major Banks

- Apple

- Microsoft

STEM in Higher Education

- 25,000 new 4 year scholarships for U.S. citizens

in U.S. institutions

- Encourage students to study in areas of

national interest

- Tax credit to employers who make continuing

education available

- Improve visa processing for international

students

- Visa extensions to international students who

get a STEM PhD

- Skills based preferential immigration optionSource: national science foundation

Discussion

How would you try and make the U.S.

more appealing to foreign students?

Incentives for Innovation

- Enhance intellectual property

protection

- Greater R&D tax credit

- Provide tax incentives for U.S. based

innovation

- Broadband internet access

What was the response to the report?

Response to the Report: America COMPETES Act

- To ensure that America remains a world leader in

technology

- “To invest in innovation through research and development,

and to improve the competitiveness of the United States.”

- Enacted in 2007, reauthorized in 2010, and cut in 2013

- Math & science education, R&D funding

- Did not do enough to meet report recommendations

10/18/2019

4

Well….notice what happened after 2005

Class Exercise

How do you keep the momentum of a

major program through multiple

congressional elections?

ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulation)

- To protect U.S. interests and

technology

- Prevents the stealing of U.S. military

related technologies

- Any item sent to space must be ITAR

regulated

- Foreign nationals must be overviewed

Discussion: What are some

potential issues with this?

Rising Above the Gathering Storm Revisited: Rapidly Approaching

Category 5

● Follow-up report published in 2010

● Progress made but will still take

time

● Reauthorize COMPETES Act

● Institutionalize funding and

oversight of the Gathering Storm

recommendations

Recent Developments

● Immigration restrictions with the Trump

administration

● Buy American and Hire American

executive order

● Efforts to curb H-1b visas

Discussion: Does restricting immigration in

this way hinder the goals from the report?

Does the US stand to lose anything from

these new policies?

Summary

● The Rise of the Gathering storm report showed the urgency

needed to compete with the rise of other nations

○ In R+D funding

○ In STEM education from primary school to university

level

○ In Technological development

● The response to the report did not show the urgency many

thought was required.