While space exploration and the NASA budget are not headline news items in the age of coronavirus, the 2020 election injects considerable uncertainty regarding America’s future in space and our return to the Moon. NASA has always been at the whim of sharp changes in presidential priorities, and there is even less predictability about its future than usual heading into 2021 and beyond.
As an incumbent, Donald Trump’s vision for America’s role in space is (relatively) well known, favoring a robust, American-led effort to return to the Moon by 2024. However Joe Biden, his presumptive November challenger, has a much more limited public stance on space exploration. This makes projecting how Biden would develop space policy as President difficult, but there are instructive examples from his past that offer clues. A number of external variables are likely to influence space policy if Biden wins, and there is an opportunity to articulate a bi-partisan, inclusive vision for space exploration regardless of the outcome this November.
Biden’s Track Record on Space (or lack thereof)
Joe Biden has an extensive career in public service, first winning a Senate seat in 1972 (serving until 2008), running for President 3 times (1988, 2008, 2020), and serving as Vice President from 2008–2016. Yet despite a career spanning almost 50 years, Biden has expressed…
