In the News: W. Henry Lambright

O’Keefe, a Maxwell School alumnus and Syracuse University Professor, was at the helm 20 years ago when Columbia broke apart while returning from a space research mission. 

Although from the outside, the saga of the SLS (Space Launch System) and NASA’s plans for the moon and Mars look like a story of endless delays and cost overruns, that is basically how large technological projects work out in a democracy, says W. Henry Lambright, a professor of political science and public administration and international affairs.

"You can’t explain SpaceX without really understanding how NASA really kind of nurtured it in the early days," says Harry Lambright, professor of public administration and international affairs and political science. "In a way, SpaceX is kind of a child of NASA."

"He [President Trump] doesn’t have to be an advocate of climate change research," says Harry Lambright, professor of public administration and international affairs. "But he has to neutralize the idea that he is a climate change denier."

"The relationship between scientists and government is arguably at a low point today. But that’s the culmination of a trend that had been building for some time," says Harry Lambright, professor of public administration and international affairs.

“The moon program looks more and more like an astounding aberration in the American political context. The space station does show it’s feasible to have a long-term program, but it has to be maintained by a sequence of presidents and a sequence of NASAs. And that’s the dilemma,” says Professor Harry Lambright.

According to Harry Lambright, climate change is not only a challenge of policy, industry buy-in, and international cooperation, but a technological Everest comparable to the moon shot.