In a short and uninspiring presentation this morning, the duopoly that runs NASA these days, Administrator Bolden and Deputy Administrator Garver, just address the troops about where NASA stands with its "new" direction and sought to win over NASA civil servants with an overview of the Obama Space Plan. To say they succceeded would be to suspend reality.
The “Bold Vision” offers nothing but a long-term plan of studies that might benefit some vague and undefined concept of a future space program. And, true to form, there was a complete lack of schedule, milestones, or destinations. In fact, there was more emphasis on climate science than on any human exploration outside of LEO. Fortunately, the administration seems to realize their uphill battle, as the words “if approved by Congress” marked the most consistent message of the presentation.
In summary, the "new" direction is…to study some more. Here are some quick notes.
Marshall – exploration precursor robotic program to NEOS, moon, etc. Space tech demo program. Heavy lift and propulsion studies.
Ames – tech demo programs… Including formation flying…
Avionics funding for green energy and NextGen
Glenn – auto precision landing, aeronautics research money.
Langley – game changing technology studies office. Earth science mission develoment.
Dryden – flight ops program for cutting edge research. Advanced sim and testing capability.
Goddard – climate science missions.
JPL – OCO2, earth science missions for climate, nothing else…???
KSC – In preparation for the 21st Century, new technology developments for commercial launchers. We know they appreciate that.