Brian Chase, the Washington representative for the Space Foundation and the first chairman for the newly formed National Space and Satellite Alliance, was the guest on this edition of The Space Show. Mr. Chase told us about the work both of these organizations are doing to further the newly proposed presidential space policy initiative for returning to the Moon and going on to Mars and more. We learned how these organizations work behind the scenes and up front to facilitate the implementation of this policy. Mr. Chase also talked about the need to have this or a similar space policy, he explained the NASA budget in some detail in terms of how it is designed to pay for the program by allocating its budget for its programs differently over coming fiscal years. We also talked about optional uses for the budget money represented by NASA's share of the budget, about $15 billion per year, and that if it were not going to NASA, what it might be used for and then measuring the productivity of this alternative usage versus using it for NASA and space development. Mr. Chase was put on the spot to provide Space Show listeners with his own probability assessment of the success of the space policy initiative among other things happening in the space field, including X-Prize. He reaffirmed several times during this program the importance and his own interest in seeing a strong space entrepreneurial market take hold, grow, and expand. He spoke about supporting advocacy organizations, and he put forth an action plan that all of us can adopt to make sure that we continue with the type of space policy program and development proposed by President Bush. Mr. Chase also advocated returning the Moon on its own merit, along with going forward to Mars, but stressed why each goal was important on its own, not because of a connection with the other goal. In response to several questions, he stated that congress seems very open to hearing about space entrepreneurism, much more so than those associated with the large aerospace industry. Also, he said that from his perspective the Department of Defense is more interested in this market than is NASA. This short summary only skims the surface of the important comments and perspectives Brian Chase provided for Space Show listeners in this program. Don't miss it. I am already looking forward to his returning to the Space Show later in the year for an important Brian Chase update.
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