WASHINGTON — NASA is seeking public input on how to prioritize about 200 space technology topics to improve how it invests its limited funds.
NASA has released a list of 187 “technology shortages,” or topics where current technology requires further development to meet the agency’s future needs. The shortages span 20 areas, from space transportation and life support to power and thermal management.
NASA is asking people to review the technologies on its website and rate their importance through May 13, so the agency can use that feedback to prioritize future tech investments to fill gaps.
It’s part of an effort by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) to provide a more rigorous approach to how it supports technology development. “NASA has gotten into the rhythm of fighting with stakeholders and setting priorities initially in problem areas — areas of activity we’re working on, not the problems we’re trying to solve,” Kurt “Spuds” Vogel, NASA’s associate administrator for space technology, said at the April 23 Lunar Innovation Consortium meeting.
He said the traditional approach risks turning NASA’s space technology programs into a “hobby shop” subject to the whims of policymakers. “That’s the wrong focus.”
He argued that prioritizing technology shortages would allow NASA to more effectively invest funds in the problems that matter most: “We’re at a different level of effort, which means we don’t have the budget to tackle all these problems at once, so we have to prioritize our limited funding to tackle the problems that matter most to our stakeholders.”
Through this process, people will be able to rate the significance of some or all of the technology deficiencies NASA has identified, and they may also list technologies they believe should be included or identify deficiencies they believe have already been addressed.
NASA plans to use information from this process, along with another internal agency effort, to develop a ranked list of technologies that is expected to be completed by this summer, Aleshin Rowley, STMD’s director of strategic planning and integration, said in a separate presentation at the April 24 meeting.
NASA won’t release individual opinions but will reveal how various stakeholder groups from industry and academia ranked the technologies, but Vogel stressed that public input is just one factor in the overall prioritization.
“It’s a tool, it’s not the tool itself,” he said, explaining that the inputs are part of an “audit trail” used to link technology to issues. “It will influence how we act, but the final decision will be ours.”
Vogel said the number of shortages could go up or down in the future, based on input into the shortage analysis. NASA expects to update its priorities annually. “The first year or two is when most of the changes will happen,” Vogel said. “After that, it will level out, and you’ll see that you can use this tool just as we use it.”
