{"id":18563,"date":"2018-04-18T01:13:16","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T17:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/acting-nasa-administrators-parting-words-accept-risk-wisely-with-eyes-wide-open\/"},"modified":"2018-04-18T01:13:16","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T17:13:16","slug":"acting-nasa-administrators-parting-words-accept-risk-wisely-with-eyes-wide-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/acting-nasa-administrators-parting-words-accept-risk-wisely-with-eyes-wide-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting NASA administrator\u2019s parting words: Accept risk wisely, with \u2018eyes wide open\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_412909\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-412909\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-412909\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180417-lightfoot-630x394.jpg\" alt=\"Robert Lightfoot\" width=\"630\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180417-lightfoot-630x394.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180417-lightfoot-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/180417-lightfoot-1260x788.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-412909\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot is dwarfed by a chart showing Earth, the moon and Mars at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. \u201cI realize it\u2019s not to scale,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cIt is to scale, though, in priority.\u201d (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.&nbsp;\u2014 NASA should rethink its approach to the risks of spaceflight as it prepares for a new wave of exploration, the space agency\u2019s outgoing chief says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProtecting against risk and being safe are not the same thing,\u201d Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot told a standing-room crowd here today at the 34th Space Symposium. \u201cRisk is just simply a calculation of likelihood and consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lightfoot said he\u2019s worried that excessive risk aversion could hobble NASA as it prepares to build an outpost in lunar orbit and blaze a trail to Mars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWould we have ever launched Apollo in the environment we\u2019re in today?\u201d he said. \u201cWould Buzz and Neil have been able to go to the moon in the risk posture we live in today? Would we have launched the first shuttle with a crew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Back in those days, Lightfoot said, mission managers were careful about selecting which risks to work on and which risks to accept.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to require what I call an \u2018Eyes Wide Open\u2019 strategy,\u201d he said. Such a strategy calls for leaders to have a full understanding of the risks and make the right decisions about them, while keeping the bigger picture in mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got to make sure that that overarching benefit is there, and I think that American leadership in space is that benefit,\u201d Lightfoot said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"\u201cState of NASA\u201d Events Highlight Agency Goals for Space Exploration\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Fe2HxMDyKXk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Lightfoot framed his comments as a valediction of sorts. The 55-year-old civil servant has worked in various capacities at NASA for 29 years. He was the agency\u2019s associate administrator until Jan. 20, 2017, when he became acting administrator in accordance with the procedure for the White House transition.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Lightfoot announced that he\u2019d be retiring on April 30. President Donald Trump picked Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., as his choice for NASA\u2019s top official months ago&nbsp;\u2014 but that nomination has been bottled up in the Senate, in part due to concerns about having a politician fill what\u2019s traditionally a nonpartisan post.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s some indication that Bridenstine\u2019s nomination will finally come up for a Senate vote this week. Lightfoot\u2019s musings could thus be seen as parting advice for Bridenstine as well as the wider space community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must move from risk management to risk leadership,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cFrom a risk management perspective, the safest place to be is on the ground. From a risk leadership perspective, I believe that\u2019s the worst place this nation can be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During his talk, Lightfoot touched on the main points of NASA\u2019s current space exploration strategy:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He\u2019s fully supportive of the Trump administration\u2019s plan to phase out direct government support of the International Space Station by 2025. Lightfoot noted that the proposed budget for fiscal 2019 includes $150 million for stimulating commercial activity in low Earth orbit, either on the space station or on new orbital platforms.<\/li>\n<li>NASA\u2019s next spaceflight platform, known as the Lunar Orbital Platform \u2013 Gateway, should start taking shape around 2022 with the launch of a power and propulsion element. NASA\u2019s NextSTEP program should lead to the development of modules for that future space complex.<\/li>\n<li>NASA will also support the development of a range of landers that could transfer cargo and eventually people between the moon-orbiting complex and the lunar surface.<\/li>\n<li>The activities in lunar orbit will help NASA fine-tune life support systems and other components that will be required for years-long missions to Mars and its moons in the 2030s.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lightfoot said Vice President Mike Pence, who chairs the recently revived National Space Council and addressed the Space Symposium on Monday, is closely following NASA\u2019s exploration plans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was pretty awesome to have him engaged on a personal level,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cHe\u2019s very interested in what we\u2019re doing, very committed to what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot is dwarfed by a chart showing Earth, the moon and Mars at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. \u201cI realize it\u2019s not to scale,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cIt is to scale, though, in priority.\u201d (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.&nbsp;\u2014 NASA should rethink its approach to the risks of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2702,190,2986,4849,622],"class_list":["post-18563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-deep-space-gateway","tag-nasa","tag-robert-lightfoot","tag-space-exploration","tag-space-symposium"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}