Can Elon Musk rescue America’s failing space program?

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk truly gets it when it comes to space travel. While Musk understands it is an inherently dangerous business, he also knows that it is critically important that we reach, work and live in that arena, as it will prove to be humanity’s only hope for long-term survival.

More than that, he gets that parts of space travel simply must be fun and that dreamers think about it every day. And it was for those dreamers Musk recently posted, “Let’s make Starfleet Academy real!”

“Starfleet Academy” is the fictional institution made famous by “Star Trek.” As for the dreamers Musk was seeking to inspire and challenge with that line, as of this writing, it has over 57 million views.

Musk also just reposted this: “Who would have guessed that SpaceX would beat Tesla to market with a ride hailing service?” While it is a funny line, it unfortunately highlights a very serious subject: Two astronauts are now stranded on the International Space Station until at least early 2025 because of technical problems with the Boeing Starliner, which brought them to the station.

The Starliner was launched on June 5 carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station on an eight-day mission. Unfortunately, the Boeing Starliner suffered a helium leak just before liftoff, which got progressively worse when the spacecraft docked at the ISS.

Several prior attempts to launch the Boeing Starliner had been cancelled because of — you guessed it — helium leaks. Knowing that, did NASA and Boeing rush the launch on June 5? Did they feel pressure to launch? If so, who was applying the pressure?

This scenario unfortunately harkens back to the tragic launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986, carrying “first teacher in space” Christa McAuliffe. NASA, which knew the O-rings on the solid rocket boosters of the shuttle were susceptible to damage in cold weather — had already delayed the launch by multiple days due to weather conditions.

Some have always believed that NASA felt tremendous pressure to get that spacecraft off the ground, since the “first teacher in space” had been so highly publicized and with millions of schoolchildren watching in classrooms.

We are all human. Humans can make poor judgment calls. Going back to the Boeing Starliner, did anyone feel pressure to launch after multiple scrubbed attempts?

Whatever the answer to that question, Musk’s SpaceX will now retrieve those stranded astronauts from the space station. Unfortunately for Boeing, this recent headline in the New York Post says it all: “Boeing employees ‘humiliated’ that upstart rival SpaceX will rescue astronauts stuck in space: ‘It’s shameful’”

As for what might be wrong with Boeing — which has suffered one public relations humiliation after another, with at least 20 whistleblowers coming forward to voice concerns about safety and quality issues — we have this quote, as reported by NPR: “Almost all of Boeing’s problems are cultural,” says Richard Aboulafia, an aviation industry analyst at AeroDynamic Advisory. “It's a management team that was completely disconnected from the folks who actually did the design, integration and manufacture of the company's products. That's a recipe for trouble. And you've seen it in jetliners and defense products and now, of course, in space systems.”

Many have also wondered if Boeing, NASA and other companies and agencies are setting themselves up for potential failure because they are hiring based upon “cultural,” DEI or identity-politics policies. To be clear, I don’t care if they hire gay, straight, trans, Black, white, male, female, faith-based or atheist employees. The person most qualified should get the job based on merit and real-world experience.

Especially in occupations that hold human lives in their hands, merit should come before all else in hiring decisions. While one would think that should be a steadfast common-sense rule, others on the left feel otherwise.

Now we come to NASA, an agency beset by problems and suffering from a crisis of confidence. Some believe that current NASA leadership is embracing “woke” policies while ignoring some very harsh realities, such as China’s growing military ambitions in space and on the surface of the Moon.

All of these harsh realities center around former President John F. Kennedy’s call for the U.S. to become the “preeminent spacefaring nation.” During his historic speech on Sept. 12, 1962, at Rice University, Kennedy stressed: “We mean to be a part of it — we mean to lead it. For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace.”

Kennedy knew what so many have forgotten: That humanity’s flaws, greed and military ambitions can and will cross into space. And because of that, America’s national and economic security could be placed at great risk if we are not the “preeminent spacefaring nation.”

The truth is, NASA is a mess. Our human spaceflight program is a mess, and our priorities in space are a mess. And because of that, our national and economic security are increasingly at risk.

While I get that many on the left have turned against Musk, they need to look at the larger picture. He is a visionary who gets things done.

More than that, he has a passion for space and for getting humanity permanently off the planet to ensure the survival of our species. I say we turn the U.S. human spaceflight program over to him.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.