Is Space Exploration a Bipartisan Issue

When Barack Obama shut down much of NASA’s Space Shuttle funding eight years ago, many were disappointed. After all, his predecessor George W. Bush had worked hard to create a program that would put humans back on the moon by 2020. And while nobody could have guessed it at the time, Obama’s actions could open a door for President Trump to gain bipartisan support for a revitalized program.

This past March, right in the middle of his “First 100 Days,” Trump sat down in the Oval Office and met with some of NASA’s biggest figures to talk about a mini victory. The president had just signed a bill that authorized giving the agency a current year budget boost to $19.5 billion and restoring the focus on manned space flights.

Trump was happy, cutting jokes with his White House visitors, and even charming the members of the press who were there taking pictures and rapidly recording sound bites. It was a rare moment of togetherness. The slimy journalists weren’t asking leading questions in hopes of grabbing an infamous Trump sound bite and spinning it out of context for a front-page piece. The president appeared relaxed and happy to be entertaining. The NASA guests all had ear-to-ear smiles, probably thinking more about the future than the present.

This scene might have just been another day in what could be four to eight years’ worth of meetings with various groups in the Oval Office, but there’s also the potential that it could prove to be one of President Trump’s defining moments.

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