US government red tape threatens to deprive the fledgling space-flight community of important technical insights <\/p>\n
ONE of the more unorthodox ornaments that adorns New Scientist's London office is a large model of an inflatable space station that might one day be put into Earth orbit. Not long ago, a film-maker wanted to borrow it. We were fine with that, as was its inventor. But the views of another party had to be considered too: the US Department of State. <\/p>\n
The reason? US anti-arms trafficking rules extend to information about space flight equipment. The model had to be judged for its relevance to, say, North Korea's rocket programme. <\/p>\n
This example might seem absurd, but the rules can have more serious consequences. It may prevent SpaceX from fully describing the difficulties that beset its Dragon cargo capsule last week, for example (see \"SpaceX glitch may be deemed secret under US arms laws\"), thus depriving the space-flight community of technical insights. Those planning to send a couple to Mars, who may need SpaceX to lift off, face many stiff challenges (see \"Solve four big problems to get people to Mars by 2018\"). Knee-jerk secrecy should not be among them. <\/p>\n
Our friendly film-maker did eventually get the green light. Let's hope those working with the real thing can cut through the red tape too. <\/p>\n
This article appeared in print under the headline \"Gagging for space secrets\" <\/p>\n
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Don't let US knee-jerk secrecy slow down space flight<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" US government red tape threatens to deprive the fledgling space-flight community of important technical insights ONE of the more unorthodox ornaments that adorns New Scientist's London office is a large model of an inflatable space station that might one day be put into Earth orbit. Not long ago, a film-maker wanted to borrow it. We were fine with that, as was its inventor Continue reading