Space Policy Edition: “Science: A New Golden Age” - Reimagining U.S. science policy

The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy recently released "Science: A New Golden Age", a sweeping report that calls for a fundamental reimagining of how the United States funds and conducts science. Explicitly modeled on Vannevar Bush's landmark 1945 report "Science, the Endless Frontier," it challenges the traditional linear model of innovation, advocates for empowering individual scientists over institutions, proposes faster grants with less bureaucracy, and envisions a greater role for AI in the scientific process. But this ambitious vision arrives in a deeply contradictory context: the same administration has proposed slashing science agency budgets, cutting new NSF funding awards by over 50%, and imposing new bureaucratic controls on scientific grants.

Casey Dreier is joined by Zach Pirtle, deputy director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University, and the Planetary Society's Chief of Advocacy Jack Kiraly to unpack the report's proposals, tensions, and implications. 

Related Links

• SCIENCE: A NEW GOLDEN AGE | The White House 
• A better mythology for science? - Pirtle’s substack
• Pirtle background — Forum on Philosophy, Engineering and Technology 
• Zachary Pirtle | ASU Search 
• The Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes 
• Science, The Endless Frontier - 75th Anniversary Edition 
• Full Committee Hearing - Unleashing the Golden Age of Science: Examining the Priorities of the FY2027 Research and Technology Enterprise 
• Travel with The Planetary Society 
• Subscribe to the monthly Space Advocate newsletter