Until very recently, space travel and exploration was inherently tied to government policy. Regulated agencies are responsible for setting priorities, approving funding, and high-level management of missions and projects. While science itself has no political ties, astronomers have long relied on space policy experts as advocates to help navigate the trials of the political landscape. In our final episode of the season, we talk with one such expert about his experiences with government regulation and oversight, the frequent politicalization of science, and how these policies may be rewritten in the new era of commercial spaceflight.

Dr. Jack Burns is a Professor and an active NSF and NASA-funded researcher in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at CU Boulder. His teaching and research focus on extragalactic astronomy and cosmology, supercomputer numerical simulations, astrophysics from the Moon, and public policy issues in higher education and science. Currently, Burns serves as Chair of the NASA Advisory Council’s Science Committee and also chairs the American Astronomical Society’s Committee on Science and Public Policy.