There is a summary lack of confidence in NASA's ability to explore outer space these days. The press is full of recent accounts that are critical of NASA's ability to advance American goals for space exploration, create a Mars colony, not to mention expanding a program of planetary exploration and the colonization of the outer planets of our solar system. The decreased allocation of funds to NASA programs was reported in the press as early as Feb. 13, lowering available funds for planetary science programs that support Mars exploration and missions to outer planets in the Solar System. There are three main challenges at this time in NASA's history. The first challenge is to clearly voice a renewed commitment to the broader mission and goals of U.S. cooperative space exploration, not just deploy technical capabilities and, somewhere along the way, rekindle taxpayer support. The first task then, (in agreement with a recent NRC report's conclusion) is to refocus on the greater mission of space exploration and how to achieve this goal, instead of deploying projects with short-term capabilities such as the Space Shuttle (the functionality of low-cost transport to low Earth orbit) and the International Space Station (the functionality of a space laboratory). The second challenge is to secure adequate funding to set this fresh commitment to space exploration in motion. The third challenge is to recruit more (wo)men to do the required work on the ground and in missions. Then NASA will need a major change of perspective in its goals, the funds to secure the longevity of the U.S. space exploration program and much more (wo)man power to fill the suits of future astronauts. In these faithless times, NASA, perhaps most important of all, needs a star spangle on its red, white and blue banner to evangelize its purpose to the world with gusto. The troubled agency needs a new voice for the country and the world. President Obama, appoint Nichelle Nichols as Ambassador-at-Large for Space Exploration. Hey NASA, Got space exploration? Get goals, get funding and get Uhura!

The Bush administration's goals for NASA had included a lunar landing by 2020, setting up a lunar base and building the groundwork for another Mars mission. However, a blue-ribbon panel led by Norman Augustine in 2009 concluded NASA's Moon-Mars program was underfunded and behind schedule. The panel recommended that NASA defer its goal of returning to the lunar surface and rather build a solid commercial space industry that can handle more immediate, manageable goals of NASA's space program,, like ferrying cargo and crew to the international space station.

A new report from the National Research Council has pointed out that NASA's core mission in the 2011 Strategic Plan is vague and doesn't identify priorities. The crux of the problem, according to the NRC report is:

While there are clear linkages between current NASA programs and the goals, there is no explicit prioritization among the goals in the 2011 strategic plan. For instance, there is no clear linkage between the details in the plan and the space exploration goals and priorities established by the administration in terms of sending astronauts to an asteroid as an interim destination before sending humans to orbit and eventually to land on Mars. In turn, the definition of these goals also contributes to the lack of clarity in strategic direction.

The report details the lack of clarity set forth by NASA for the goals for earth and space sciences, new space technologies, programs to support NASA aeronautic and space activities and the "share NASA with the public" goal.

Perhaps the most damaging conclusion in the report was that both NASA's vision statement and mission statements have failed to "articulate a national vision that is unique to the nation’s space and aeronautics agency" and

Both the NASA vision and mission statements are generic statements that could apply to almost any government research and development (R&D) agency, omitting even the words “aeronautics” or “space.” NASA’s current vision and mission statements do not explain NASA’s unique role in the government and why it is worthy of taxpayer investment. The non-specificity of the vision and mission statements is a contributing factor to the confusion about NASA’s overall strategic direction.

To hear from the source about the "state of NASA's exploratory mission", I sent one question for comment via email to the Office of Communications, Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters to Charles Bolden, current NASA Administrator. The gist of it, is, "What is the status of space for the U.S. and how do we fix it?"

Venables: Please comment on the state of U.S. space exploration after the cancellation of the Constellation program. Does the current $17.7 billion in the FY 2013 budget request adequately fund what NASA's current goals are for space exploration?

Bolden: NASA is executing an ambitious space exploration vision laid out by the President and approved and funded by Members of Congress in both parties. This plan extended the space shuttle program, put in place a robust commercial space initiative and has put us on track to send American astronauts further into space than ever before. With the funding President Obama and Congress have provided, we are focused on bringing space launches back to the U.S., in-sourcing American jobs and keeping the nation on the cutting edge of technology development and innovation.

Houston, we have a[nother] problem. Much of the American public, the National Research Council, the Space Foundation and the media do not have Bolden's rose-colored perspective on the currently established goals and prospective future of U.S. space exploration. So, the issue at hand is an urgent one. Lighting a fire under NASA's large glutei maximi. Again, NASA needs a renewed commitment to its exploratory mission of the solar system and ultimately, the taxpayer popular support to back it up. Two, more money to fund its space exploration programs. About 3 billion more per program it turns out, but details, details. Three, to bring in more people to do the job -- more wo(man) power. To encourage women, period, to enter STEM fields of research and practice. To recruit more women to STEM fields so they can do NASA's work on Earth and in space: aerospace engineering, oceanography, biology, space physics, engineering management, mechanical engineering, polymer science and engineering, chemistry and medicine.

The answer to NASA's lack of direction must come from refocused goals for the organization. Bring back an updated version of the Vision for Space Exploration for the 21st century. It was goal-based, not simply capability-based. Take the Space Foundation's suggestion and solidify "pioneering" the agency's holistic goal in the law (and eliminate other ancillary goals that do not support this end). Both the NRC and Space Foundation reports make it saliently evident that the agency has lost it's mission to reach out, touch the stars, and colonize them in the projected future. Moreover, technological partnerships with other countries are the future. Let's expand NASA's core identity from being a civil space agency to an international space partner with more cooperative technology sharing and development projects with other nations. And the NASA administrator must sound the trumpet and lead the charge of change.

Refocusing goals will mean changing how to implement the strategy to achieve these ends. If the U.S. is to pioneer, it must do so with the full support of the private sector. Make NASA a permanent government-private sector organization. Privatize the production of space hardware that the private sector does best, the rockets. In the long run, this could only alleviate the burden on NASA's space hardware operation.

Find the money to fund the impossible goals the government has historically asked NASA to do. The President should recommend that the U.S. Armed Forces scrap a third from the $396 billion Joint Strike Fighter program, one that has been plagued by safety concerns, cost overruns, delays, contractor-government infighting, etc. Why does the military need planes whose hardware components and software system work poorly in the first place? That cost is almost four times as much as any other U.S. weapons system and two-thirds of the $589 billion of the cost of the war in Afghanistan (the long-term costs of operating the planes is projected at $1.1 trillion). Since, technically, it's a cooperative, international program, perhaps other nations should help pick up the financial slack. Let's do the math on our one-third budget cut: that one third would give NASA $132 billion. A solid foundation to fully fund planetary science, space exploration, and lots of cutting-edge robotic exploration projects.

Second, find the person who will galvanize public support behind a new NASA mission in space. Bring in Uhura! Nichelle Nichols, known the world over as Lieutenant Commander Nyota Urura, Chief Communications Officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Now that was a great era of American space exploration. Oh wait, that was in the future, what am I thinking? In fact, there are those, high up in NASA's administration who might support Nichols's appointment as Ambassador-at-Large for Space Exploration. I'm thinking of Leland Melvin, Associate Administrator for Education at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is also a former two-time space shuttle astronaut, having flown in 2008 and 2009.

I submitted some questions to Melvin via email about the work Nichols has done for NASA, and his remembrances of working with her in the Space Shuttle program to promote space exploration and the recruitment of minority and women astronauts. Below is the Q&A.

Venables: Can you tell me about Nichols's support of STEM education and what that means for NASA's future?

Melvin: Nichelle is a champion for NASA and its STEM education efforts. She knows that pursuing STEM studies is a win-win situation: students prepare themselves for exciting future careers and NASA helps shape the scientists, engineers and explorers of tomorrow.

Venables: What are your thoughts on the importance of Nichelle Nichols' work with the Space Shuttle recruitment program and her accomplishments there?

Melvin: For many years now, Nichelle has used her star power as Lt. Uhura to bring attention to NASA and its programs. Her advocacy and commitment to helping minorities and women see their role in America’s space program has been valuable, especially back when there wasn’t much diversity in our astronaut corps. She worked with the senior leadership of NASA to ensure that the astronaut corps would be inclusive and more appropriately represent our American population.

Venables: Do you have any favorite personal anecdotes you'd like to share from your time working at NASA's Space Shuttle program, working with a living science fiction icon such as Lt. Uhura?

Melvin: Nichelle was the guest keynote speaker at an Education Forum that we held in Florida prior to the final shuttle mission in July 2011. She addressed a group of 250 students and eloquently stated the need for and benefit of having great role models to inspire our young people. We at NASA are so appreciative of her ongoing commitment to space exploration and STEM education.

I last saw Nichelle Nichols at the Celebrate Seattle event, commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the fiftieth anniversary of the Seattle Center campus in Seattle. The show included appearances by Curiosity Mars Rover flight director Bobak Ferdowsi, “Mohawk Guy” and astronaut Cady Coleman. Nichelle Nichols came on stage with a luminous presence. Here was the first African-American woman to play a role with honor, dignity and intelligence on television, on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise, no less. Here was the leader who is responsible for inspiring the recruitment of Sally K. Ride, the first American woman in space, Judith A. Resnik, another of the first U.S. female astronauts, Mae Jemison, the first African-African-American female astronaut and the first African-African American male astronauts, Guion Bluford and Ronald McNair. Nichols' very presence that night was to commemorate the original mission of the 21st Century Exposition in 1962, America's commitment to "space, science and the future".

Finally, there is not a better time for celebrity evangelism for furthering awareness and support for U.S. space exploration and NASA careers for wo(men). The U.S. space program needs a new direction, quite literally. We need to point NASA somewhere worthy of American scientific ingenuity and STEM-centered scientific enterprise. We need to reclaim the heyday of excellence in bold, scientific inquiry by re-identifying U.S. priorities in space exploration and space colonization and eventual commercialization. Enter, center stage, the actress forever known to Star Trek fans the world over as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Communications Officer aboard the USS Enterprise. Nichols's whole life has been dedicated to testing and breaking societal constructs of gender, race and science. I can not think of a person with better credentials who could solidify widespread support for adequate government funding for NASA's space exploration program. Nichols is a member of the Board of Governors of the National Space Society. Her work for NASA's Space Shuttle program, through the efforts of the Nichelle Nichols Youth Foundation, challenges kids to tackle STEM subjects in school, to explore the frontiers of science, technology, engineering and math. That is why I propose that Nichelle Nichols be appointed by the President as Ambassador-at-Large for Space Exploration. She is a walking recruitment icon who can attract kids to future NASA careers, girls and boys who can learn to do the jobs to get the U.S. back into space to find out what is out there.

Whether you agree or disagree with the allocations in the NASA fiscal year 2013 budget, having a celebrity with presidential appointment of Nichols's caliber could only help the agency with a capital and human resources drive when it needs money and hands aboard deck the most. Nichols said it best when she sang the Roddenberry lyrics to Alexander Courage's Star Trek theme, with the Pacific Northwest Ballet orchestra:

Beyond

The rim of the star-light

My love

Is wand'ring in star-flight

I know

He'll find in star-clustered reaches

Love,

Strange love a star woman teaches.

I know

His journey ends never

His star trek

Will go on forever.

But tell him

While he wanders his starry sea

Remember, remember me

As Nichols's soprano rose higher and higher in the darkened hall on that mild September evening in Seattle, I felt my own sense of wonder. Of how far Lt. Uhura has come for women of color, and women everywhere. But I am mindful of how much farther the American space enterprise must travel to reach the final frontier of space exploration and discover the limits of our own scientific enterprise.

Let the star trek begin. With an experienced woman of color at the helm.

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