[Infowarrior] - Pence’s space council is big on business, small on science

[Richard Forno]

Mike Pence’s space council is big on business, small on science
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/21/vp-mike-pence-space-council-commercial-interests/

Yesterday evening, Vice President Mike Pence announced the candidates asked to serve on the National Space Council's Users Advisory Group. Members will have to be officially selected by the Administrator of NASA (a position which remains open). The selections draw heavily from the space industry, including former astronauts and executives from private spaceflight companies, and a few conservative political appointees.

< - appointee list - >

There are definitely some expected names on this list: Executives from Blue Origin, Orbital ATK, SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada, the United Launch Alliance and more are present to represent the interests of private spaceflight companies. There are also military interests, engineers and former astronauts. There isn't much science represented on this list (though Jack Schmitt was a scientist-astronaut); it makes clear that the focus of this administration in space is on commercial and military applications. And of course, there are also some conservative political appointments, such as Newt Gingrich, Steve Crisafulli and Dean Cheng from the Heritage Foundation.

President Trump revived the National Space Council last year. It will advise the president on matters concerning space and coordinate different sectors, from commercial interests to exploration. The Council is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/21/vp-mike-pence-space-council-commercial-interests/