How to Get Involved
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Learn about the policy process – One way to start is by reading this Guide to NASA’s Budget from the Planetary Society or take their free, online Space Advocacy 101 Course
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Stay informed – One way to start is by reading the blog posts on the AAS Public Policy Pages. Lots more links to resources are below!
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Talk to your representatives – Read our tips for doing this: Communicating With Congress
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Share your thoughts and concerns with the DPS FRS (Federal Relations Subcommitte) – List of DPS Federal Relations Subcommittee Members
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Join the DPS FRS! The FRS exists to inform DPS members about the timing and direction of budgetary decisions and to communicate the priorities of the DPS to government officials. Subcommittee member duties include participating in one or more Congressional Hill Visits per year, monthly telecons, and email conversations. To join: Contact the FRS Subcommittee
Resources
DPS FRS “Leave-Behinds”: One page (double sided) Summary Documents with Talking Points for Congressional Visits
- May 2022
- July 2020
- February 2020
- June 2018
Resources Specific to the NASA Planetary Science Budget
- Informative blog postings by Casey Dreier
- Great article about the planetary science budget crisis in the 1980s and how it holds lessons for the current environment
- Plutonium 238 Production
Friends of DPS and Related Resources on Advocacy and Policy
- The Planetary Society Action Center: Volunteer as a Space Advocate
- American Astronomical Society (AAS) Policy Resources
- AAS Advocacy Resources for Members
- American Geophysical Union (AGU) Planetary Sciences Section
- AGU Science Policy
- The Geological Society of America (GSA) Planetary Geology Division
- GSA Public Policy
- The Meteoritical Society
- AAAS Policy & Advocacy
- AAAS Communicating Science
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Policy
- The Planetary Society (TPS) Space Policy and Advocacy Program
- European Geophysical Union Policy
- Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF)
- Space Policy Institute at George Washington University
Editorials and Op-Eds
- “Should Neil Armstrong’s Bootprints be on the Moon Forever?” by Nadia Drake, July 18, 2019
- “NASA Needs to Out-Crazy Elon Musk” by Safi Bahcall, July 3, 2019
- “The Race to Develop the Moon” by Rivka Galchen, April 29, 2019
- “A comet or Titan: The next New Frontiers mission” by Van Kane, Space Review, September 24, 2018
- “In space, no one is powerful enough to boldly go alone” by Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Space News, April 18, 2018
- “A coming communications crunch at Mars” by Cody Knipfer. Space Review, June 7, 2017
- “Attempting a landing there: the case for a Europa lander” by Jeff Foust, Space Review, April 3, 2017
Polling
Space Exploration
- How Americans see the future of space exploration, 50 years after the first moon landing (Pew Research Center, July 17, 2019)
- Space Exploration: Attitudes toward the U.S. Space Program (Associated Press-NORC, June 20, 2019)
- Majority of Americans Believe It Is Essential That the U.S. Remain a Global Leader in Space (Pew Research Center, June 6, 2018)
- NASA popularity still sky-high (Pew Research Center, February 3, 2015)
- Public Favors Mars Exploration For Scientific Expansion (Aviation Week, March 4, 2013)
Space Advocacy
- Face-to-Face with Congress: Before, During, and After Meetings with Legislators (Congressional Management Foundation, 2014)
- The impact of citizen advocacy efforts on Congressional staff (Congressional Management Foundation, 2011)