design futures

I've been reading a report on NASA's "Exploration Technology Development Program," the agency's plan for implementing Bush's ambitious "Vision for Space Exploration." Fundamentally, it says that there isn't enough money to do the job right an on schedule.

But reading into the more subtle details, there are a couple of other interesting weaknesses in the organization that it points out. One is underperforming researchers -of course the majority of NASA's people are highly qualified and do world-class work. But there aren't enough of those for all the work. Also the report indicates that the program isn't paying enough attention to nuclear propulsion for getting to the moon and to mars. I had no idea this was even an efficient way to get there!

But there are two other aspects that are really relevant to designers: one is that the report concludes that none of the research groups is doing a good job considering human factors. This is one of the historical strengths of industrial design and is a huge area of current growth - I think it represents the best opportunity for designers to get into the space exploration business. Second is that the report indicates widespread - but not quite endemic - lack of systematic planning and coordination across NASA projects, and to a greater degree among all government research projects, as well as with the private sector. I don't know if those scientists and engineers would like a non-specialist coming up with the bigger picture, but it seems like a perfect fit to me.