Tani shares thoughts on NASA’s future in space
Astronaut Dan Tani just may be the best person with suburban ties to ask about space.
He spent many of his childhood years in Lombard, but he’s now a NASA astronaut with 15 years’ experience.
With the space shuttle program now over and NASA likely to receive less funding than requested, Tani offered his thoughts on the future of NASA in an interview with the Daily Herald.
Here is an edited version of the conversation.
Q. How is NASA’s budget looking? What kind of shape is it in?
A. It’s probably just like every other government organization. It’s not as bad as we feared, but not as good as we really want or need. For instance, we did not get a whole lot of the funding we’re asking for to pursue a commercial vehicle that will take crews to the International Space Station. We’re seeding money to companies for the next vehicle that will take astronauts to the space station, but we don’t have the money for that (in the budget). We set out a budget of what we needed. The threat was (the allocation) was going to be much less that what it is.
Q. Some are saying this is a turning point for NASA. Do you agree?
A. It’s a key point in time, but it’s a point in time that’s been coming down the railroad tracks for quite a while. The decision to cancel the space shuttle was made almost eight years ago. We’re dealing with the reality of that. The promise then was we would be investing in the new vehicle and we would now shift all these people and money over to the new vehicle. That decision was made years ago. Now we have this huge gap where we’ve stopped funding the vehicle, we’re way behind in development of this next vehicle. It seems like a crossroads, but it’s not. It’s a place that we knew was coming and here we are and we’re trying to fix it. Even with all the money and manpower in the world, we can’t fix it quickly. It’s a very, very difficult time for the agency and the industry.
Q. What are your thoughts about the California-based space exploration technology company SpaceX and the vehicles it’s developing?
A. They’re certainly one of the contractors that’s bidding for the opportunity to take astronauts up to the space shuttle. They’re an exciting company. Most of the aerospace companies are, or used to be, upstarts. They’re the only company that has launched their vehicle into space successfully on a demo flight. Working with them is very exciting and interesting. It’s kind of refreshing to see their approach.
Q. What if the U.S. is overshadowed in space exploration efforts by another country such as China or Russia?
A. It’s not a worry of mine because it’s not really a competition. I would say most of us (astronauts) just want to explore. It’d be great if were the ones doing it. I think for most of us the exploration is the really important thing, not the nationality of the person that’s doing it. We, the United States, have a long history of going into space — its really exciting; we’ve done very, very well. But we the United States have to decide how we’re going to spend our money. Of course, I would like to spend a lot of money on space exploration, but we have to keep people fed and housed and safe as well. We find out great things about the universe when we as human kind keep exploring. That’s what excites me.
Q. What are you up to these days?A. After my two space flights (in 2001 and 2005), like any other staff astronaut that#146;s not in training, I#146;m still part of the astronaut office, and I support the office more in an administrative and technical way than a flying way. I work in mission control and I talk to the crew in space, and I support the astronaut office at a bunch of meetings determining policy and how we#146;re going to use the space station.