There were a lot of discussions about the path NASA should follow in connection with its current and future space missions, but no conclusion has yet been fixed. The cooperation between Barack Obama’s new NASA transition team and Michael Griffin, NASA’s current administrator, not yet exactly fructuous, approaches in different aspects come from various sources, and it is difficult to make a decision to please everyone. A new review from MIT’s Space, Politics and Society Research Group aims to shed some light on the situation.

The team developed that the independent review during the two years’ worth of monitoring and evaluation data is composed of political analysts, engineers, historians, and a former astronaut. It aims at a correct direction to NASA’s Manned Space Program. complied with the transition team and a number of politicians on Capitol Hill, only to find that the latter are undecided about the best way to solve the problem of the space program.

“Our major recommendation is that Obama administration should rethink the Bush plan”, was the conclusion of the MIT Technology Review Guide and historian David Mindell, as quoted by Wired. “The problem with the current plan is that it is too ambitious and under-funded and not really thought through. Our recommendation is that the Obama team a new policy.” There are simply not enough money to retire the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, build the Constellation program, and use it for manned missions to the moon and Mars.

“The Bush plan has never been funded to the level it was at. We are not trying to make a case that the NASA budget must be doubled, because that is simply not viable in this environment. But go on the road they ‘re going is to kill people, just like that, “says Mindell. The team stresses the importance of international cooperation, especially with the new competitor in the space race, such as India and China, especially by not retiring the shuttle missions before it was supposed to (not just from the U.S.) are implemented.

Space in the fleet would be retired with other countries, no (or little) resources to the ISS, where she also extensive research behavior. During the review also found that robotic and human missions should be in equilibrium, as now people are overexposed to the risks of spaceflight, exploration and research. But hopes are still high, says Mindell, “I believe there are a lot of new interest in space. NASA building new hardware for the first time in a generation. Students in aerospace engineering in a way they were not five years ago. There is a new kind of space age, and it’s all very exciting. “

The Penn State Department of Aerospace Engineering recently fell in the ranking of the marketing of its graduates in aerospace and defense industries, but the service is not discouraged.

In a study conducted by Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine Penn State lost its top position at Purdue University, the fall in the second.

“I do not think this is a great movement to address a position. I do not think that can be attributed to a cause. I think second is very good,” Lesieutre George, the head of Penn State aerospace engineering program, he said.

The magazine has recently conducted a study in which businesses were asked to rank the top five institutions whose recruitment of employees, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education blog. Purdue University has dropped from fourth to first place, according to the blog.

Despite the decline, Dan Melly (second-year aerospace engineering) is not worried about finding a job after graduation.

“From what I hear from seniors and graduates, PSU is really good about how the recruits. And it’s very easy to find work in this field,” said Melly.

Employers in the fields of aerospace engineering who can look to handle a wide range of responsibilities, Lesieutre said. Most companies do not want people who can design, but they are looking for a breadth of capability, “he said, adding, companies that want to grow to employees in group situations.

The program of Penn State is trying to adapt to suit the quality of work in the sector, he said.

“We offer elective courses to offer practical experience so that students can learn to build things in groups,” said Lesieutre.

Melly is taking a class that emphasizes the working group, which Lesieutre and considers it one of the best attributes of the program.

“The class allows students to do their own things and learn through the industry group projects that are managed students,” said Melly.

Lesieutre not have the feeling that the academic programs of Purdue and Penn State are drastically different.

“We both have some very strong bases. Stress calculation for a little ‘over Purdue, which should be a good thing,” he said.

Lesieutre thought the number of engineering students from Penn State program, which has about 7,500 regularly in accordance with the Faculty of Engineering consultancy office, was the only sector that could affect the quality of the program.

“We are trying to cope with the huge number of students enrolled in engineering. With so many students who can escape, so we must be aware. But we are trying to improve and enhance the curriculum,” said Lesieutre.

A representative of Aviation Week & Space Technology did not return several phone calls by press time yesterday.

Virginia Tech, the University of Illinois and the University of Maryland, tied for third place, according to the blog.

Georgia Tech was fourth. The fifth place was a tie between Ohio State University, University of California-San Diego, Arizona State University, the University of Washington and University of California-Los Angeles, according to the blog.