As a Candidate, Biden Said Little About Space. Here ’s What He Might Do as President

Charlie Bolden likes to tell the story about the time he and Joe Biden composed a sort of a song. It was back in 2010, when the former Vice President was overseeing the Obama White House push to pass a NASA budget authorization bringing private sector players like SpaceX and Boeing into the business of launching crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). Bolden, then head of NASA, was championing the plan and he and Biden huddled to discuss how best to sell it to skeptical lawmakers on Capitol Hill. “I remember when we were really having trouble getting funding out of Congress,” Bolden said at a press conference this past May, shortly before SpaceX launched its first crew to the ISS. “I went in and talked to the Vice President and he said, ‘I can help you. I know the tune but you’ve got to give me the lyrics.'” It worked. Congress did pass the authorization bill establishing the commercial crew and cargo program and in the last decade, NASA and the private sector have become close partners in keeping the ISS staffed and supplied. That was one of the signature—if less-touted—achievements of the Biden vice presidency. And for the space community, it bodes well for NASA now that Biden has snagged the top job in D.C.. The enthusiasm is not without merit. Ever since the administration of President John Kennedy, space has often though not always been part of the vice president’s portfolio. Lyndon Johnson handled t...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news