My Personal Journey into Space Policy Geekery

Politics – a topic everyone loves to argue about. However, space is generally a universally loved subject. We can disagree about how much money is spent on it, who pays, and what actions are taken toward what objectives, but we all love that work is being done in space. This is seen when we achieve big discoveries: gravitational wave detection, Pluto fly-by, humans landing on another world. Here in Florida, space is especially beloved.

Earlier this month, I participated in my fourth Florida Space Day. Yesterday, we held the wrap-up meeting. Our goal is to effectively communicate with state legislators to promote space. After each annual event, we go over our lessons learned to improve the process for the next year. We try to make each year better and more impactful than the previous.

To understand why Space Day is so important to me, I need to go back in time four years. I was a doctoral student, enjoying my studies but wanting very much to get involved in space policy. I was President of the Florida Space Development Council, a National Space Society chapter, and was able to participate in Space Day thanks to FSDC sponsorship. I was thrilled to take part. When up in Tallahassee for the event, I was sitting on a job offer from CASIS, contemplating taking it (I did), but also wondering what a career in space policy would look like. As a student, the legislators loved meeting me. I felt like a sponge, absorbing everything.

The following years, I became a team lead and a subcommittee head, and I left my studies to enter the professional world. It really wasn't until this year that I felt that I could hold my own among the seasoned professionals advocating with me. Spreading the love of space is easy. Giving specific examples and answering the questions of busy and over-scheduled part-time state legislators is complex. This year, my fourth, I feel that I finally have the process down.

Building that confidence and expertise prepared me for my second space policy meeting yesterday: Congressman Bill Posey's Space Advisory Council. Twelve of us gathered with the Congressman to discuss relevant space topics of interest. In no particular order, this included: Orion and the Space Launch System, NASA commercial cargo and crew, education and public outreach, asteroid mining, launching from the United States versus elsewhere, certifications, the FAA's role in spaceflight, federal research grants, the presidential candidate's opinions on space, Air Force range, gravitational waves, the Chinese space agency, RD-180 Russian rockets, and NASA's budget planning.

I'm the only woman on the council and was the youngest by far. It was an honor to serve on the council with such a distinguished crowd. I proudly contributed to the conversation with my informed and sometimes unpopular opinions that I hope challenged some of the perceptions in the room. I've been doing quite a bit of research and self-study lately, and I'm hoping that my fresh look at the issues can be of use to the Congressman and even others on the council. It was a fun afternoon!

It amazes me to see how much I've learned in four years. And this is just the start of my space policy journey. What comes next, I can't wait to see!

Congressman Bill Posey's Space Advisory Council - February 18, 2016

Advocating for Planetary Science Plutonium in 2012 and Now - Fuel NASA's Discoveries!

At the start of 2012, I was just beginning to develop my love for space policy. I had joined the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences' Federal Relations Subcommittee two years prior, but I had played a background role. I was thrilled when I was selected by AAS to participate in their Communicating with Washington program. My focus: restarting production of plutonium-238 for planetary science missions and addressing the proposed planetary science budget cuts within NASA.

Using a combination of AAS and DPS literature, I pieced together a flyer to give to those I met with in our nation's capital. I thought it a shame that the DPS FRS was dysfunctional at the time and therefore did not provide me with any assistance or advice regarding the advocacy visit, looking back, it may have been a good thing. I was forced to learn on my own how to schedule and prepare for congressional visits and how to interact with legislators and staffers. This experience helped me tremendously with my future Tallahassee visits with Florida Space Day, which I joined in 2013.

The leave-behind flyer I made for my Washington, D.C. visit

Pu-238, a radioactive isotope of the chemical element plutonium, is not a product for or from weapons. It is made from an entirely separate process for a separate purpose, a peaceful purpose of scientific exploration. It is used as the heat source in radioisotope thermoelectric generators which power space missions such as Voyager 1 and 2, Cassini–Huygens to Saturn, New Horizons to Pluto, and the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity. Pu-238 will also fuel Curiosity's twin, Mars 2020.

However, Pu-238 stockpiles are very low, so low that the scarcity risks future planetary missions. After the United States stopped making Pu-238 in 1988, we had to rely on the Russian supply, which was also running out. In 2012, there was widespread agreement that Pu-238 production should restart in the U.S. but there was disagreement about which government agency should pay for it and how the supply would be allocated.

Playing tourist at the White House - March 2012

Cherry blossom season at the tidal basin - March 2012

My first meeting in Washington, D.C. was with a recent physics PhD who worked in the Office of Management and Budget. He helped to craft the proposed FY2013 NASA budget and thought it firm and decided. He was most interested in budget allocation within NASA: which programs should be funded and which should be cut. He was very interested in my graduate research and my future goals as well.

I then met with two members of the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Subcommittee on Space & Aeronautics. From the House side, the FY13 budget was very fluid compared to the OMB point of view. Their largest priority from what I could tell was maintaining U.S. leadership in space exploration.

Fun times at the House of Representatives - March 2012

My meetings the following day were Florida-specific. I met with a NASA fellow from Senator Bill Nelson's office on loan from Kennedy Space Center. He was very concerned about the proposed planetary science budget cuts and was curious to learn of their extent. He seemed to want to take immediate action to reverse the negative effects of the budget cuts.

Unfortunately, my very brief meeting with Senator Marco Rubio's office was unproductive and the staffer I met with gave me no indication that he or the senator cared about the issue or about NASA. Whether his stance has changed since launching his presidential campaign, I don't know.

My favorite meeting was with Congressman Bill Posey and his staff. Our meeting was extensive and productive. The congressman is undoubtedly very pro-space. Although my conversation with the congressman was NASA-broad and we didn't delve much into specifics, my post-meeting with a staffer in the hallway was very interesting. It was the first of many interactions I'd have with my congressman and his office.

Meeting Congressman Bill Posey - March 2012

My final meeting was with Congresswoman Sandy Adams' office, whose district at the time included Kennedy Space Center. The staffer who I met with was a recent graduate of my university and was even aware of my specific planetary science lab. The office was very pro-space and assured me that the FY13 budget was being massaged.

Although NASA received a budget cut that year in relation to the president's FY13 request, planetary science did receive a tiny budget bump up from the initial request. Planetary science receive even more of an increase in the following year. Although NASA's budget dropped in 2013, it's been on a slight rise since then, though most expect the numbers to continue to fluctuate.

Pu-238 production was restarted to a small degree in 2013, but not nearly enough. A series of articles have been published in the last few weeks about the need for more for the future of NASA's planetary exploration future. New product is expected to be available in 2019, but not as much as the projected demand. The budgets aren't high enough for faster or increased production.

Future planetary missions that can't rely on solar power may be delayed, descoped, or doomed. Otherwise great science missions may be otherwise stuck in limbo without a fuel source. I can only hope that our current legislators take a long view on the need for the Pu-238 program so that we can continue our very successful planetary science missions well into the future. Bring on more Mars rovers, Pluto probes, and other planetary achievements!

Celebrating past space achievements and working toward future ones at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum - March 2012