By Walt Bonner <\/p>\n
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. April 5, 2010.(AP Photo\/Wilfredo Lee) <\/p>\n
NASA could lose its lead in the space race to China or Russia if it doesnt revitalize its workforce, a new study has found. <\/p>\n
In the longer term (two to three decades from now), China appears to be best positioned to be a challenger for the top spot, Prof. Loizos Heracleous of Warwick Business School in the U.K. told FoxNews.com. He and Steven Gonzalez of NASAs Johnson Space Center co-authored the study, Two modest proposals for propelling NASA forward, which waspublished on Nov. 17 inSpace Policy. <\/p>\n
This is due to the amount of resources [China] dedicates to space activities, the breadth of its programs, its long-term thinking and its determination, Heracleous continued. <\/p>\n
He noted that other countries, too, are getting in on the space game nations like India, which recently launched an orbiter to Mars at the incredibly low cost of $74 million, though its program lacks the scope of the U.S., Russian or Chinese programs. <\/p>\n
But those countries space programs are gaining momentum and closing ground, he said. <\/p>\n
Heracleous and Gonzalez have written in their study that NASA can overcome its predicament by addressing two issues its lack of employee turnover and its budgetary problems. <\/p>\n
It would be beneficial if NASA could be given the freedom to manage its human resources and infrastructure based on performance-based, market-oriented, competitive principles, Heracleous said. Such a move would have positive consequences organizationally and strategically, including the ability to revitalize its workforce and facilitate transfer of relevant competencies from wherever they reside. <\/p>\n
Heracleous blames lack of support and funding for NASAs struggles. NASA has not been resting on its laurels, he said. However, it has been constrained by several factors, including a misalignment between long-term project timescales on one hand, and uncertainty in terms of political support, funding cycles and leadership stability on the other hand. <\/p>\n
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NASA space skills gap?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Walt Bonner Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. April 5, 2010.(AP Photo\/Wilfredo Lee) NASA could lose its lead in the space race to China or Russia if it doesnt revitalize its workforce, a new study has found Continue reading