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White House Issues Strategies To Combat Growing Orbital Debris Risks (wsj.com)
White House space officials have explicitly ruled out international treaties to combat hazards from orbital debris, even as they roll out strategies to revamp U.S. responses to the growing problem. From a report: President Donald Trump on Monday signed a directive formally establishing the Department of Commerce as the lead agency in providing collision-risk data to commercial satellite operators. The order, as expected, also calls for stepped-up efforts to develop voluntary industry standards covering satellite construction, orbit locations, and de-orbit plans -- all intended to reduce collision risks posed by aging satellites and thousands of pieces of debris circling the earth. Mr. Trump said the changes, among others he is championing, aim to ensure that "America will always be first in space" in both military and commercial arenas. The Pentagon will continue to maintain the central catalog of orbiting spacecraft and debris posing potential hazards to U.S. government and private satellites. But commerce department officials will have the authority to pass on that information to the industry, combined with data gathered from private or foreign government sources. Further reading: President Trump Directs Pentagon To Create New 'Space Force' Military Branch.
any one else feel like Trump is trying to remove science from space by going outside of NASA.
I'm all for giving people credit for their work. In my daily work, I advise, mentor, coach, and team-up with others whenever possible. During our daily scrum, when we report what has been completed, I make it a point to say "Al did this really cool thing." I do not mention "Al did this really cool thing exactly the way I told him to" :) I hand out credit and congratulations, and deflect when they object with "but Ray you're the one who designed it", because part of my leadership style is to give out recognition rather than seek out recognition.
Having said that ...
The summary says "the President signed ...", and that is in fact the news. That Bob Jones, an intern in Boston, suggested something isn't news. When it becomes national policy by the President signing it, that's news.
Also, if the president chooses a bad leader him, choosing an art major with no relevant experience as Chief Security Officer, whose fault is it when the organization gets hacked big time? If a company president sets up a compensation structure that rewards opening accounts, and creates a corporate culture where being sneaky and underhanded is the norm, whose fault is it when low-level employees do sneaky, underhanded things to get new accounts open? Sure, the low-level employees are responsible for their own personal behavior, but the leader is responsible for what's going on throughout the organization, policies and widespread practices. I hold them responsible for bad or for good, when it comes to the broad policies.
Somebody suggested that policy, someone else probably suggested the opposite, or something totally different, and the leader chose and set the policy.
Does that mean the leader shouldn't point out where the idea came from? In a positive way, I think they should. I try to. And whatever policies Trump selects and puts into force, I'll hold him responsible for - credit or blame.