"...There is no consistent theme or pattern upon which to build long-term plans of action."

Without well-defined goals any program will have great problems. When an agency is trying to satisfy as many disciplines as is NASA, it can't.

We would need to back up, recognize NASA as a service organization providing support to various disciplines, and then put pressure upon them to perform.

For instance, Hubble. Great idea, great performance. (Still don't know why P-E didn't have to pay for the repair.) Satisfies one small constituency.

Then there are the folks looking for life in all the right places. Which are most right, and what is most efficient?

Then there are the pure planetary scientists, wanting a peek at faraway places. They have a legitimate claim, too, and are a small constituency.

And all those take money away from the others, and some of the stuff I'd like too.

NASA suffers from being expected to be all things to everyone in the entire world who want's something from space, and it just plain can't do it. And it doesn't matter who runs it.

Arf