Since we haven’t done one of these for a while and both of the major party candidates have popped up on the subject recently, let’s take a look at how the candidates stack up on the future of NASA. One of the more recent entries is a bit of tit-for-tat between Obama and McCain in the Florida press.

Sen. Barack Obama has detailed a comprehensive space plan that includes $2 billion in new funding to reinvigorate NASA and a promise to make space exploration and science a significantly higher priority if he is elected president.

Campaigning in Florida yesterday, Sen. John McCain responded by telling business leaders that Obama has changed his position on some key questions of NASA funding in recent months and should not be trusted to support the program.

Both candidates have recently released fresh statements on their plans for NASA. (You can view a full statement for Obama and McCain at these links.) Both of the candidates are accusing each other of flip-flopping on the issue, and both have some grounds for the charge. Obama previously hedged on full funding for the new Constellation program to put men back on the moon and, eventually, Mars, along with the development of a replacement for the shuttle. His most recent proposal involves another two billion for NASA in the upcoming budget to keep the programs back on track. McCain, conversely, has consistently talked a good game on NASA funding, but voted against the last round of cash for Constellation.

While each offers a long laundry list of programs they would like to fund, what is glaringly missing from each of their statements is the much cheaper, yet far more important question of future funding for the NASA/JPL Near Earth Object Program. I’m one of the biggest fans of space research you’re likely to find, but I also realize that we are facing a budget crunch, a growing federal debt and mounting budget deficits. We may all have to sacrifice something in our pet projects for the general welfare, so a delay in the development of our new reusable vehicle and our return to the moon may be inevitable. What we should not be skimping on is the NEOP.

It may be worth reminding readers that, thanks to NEOP, we knew in advance about Asteroid 2007 TU24. In January of this year it passed so close to the Earth that it was barely outside the orbit of our moon. In cosmic terms, that was as near of a miss as you get. A difference of less than one percent of one degree in its trajectory would have resulted in an impact. TU42 was nearly one thousand feet in diameter. It would only require a 100 foot asteroid to completely obliterate a major city and, in fact, it was a body of roughly that size that formed Meteor Crater in McCain’s home state. If TU24 had hit us, the results would have been apocalyptic. But with enough advance notice, we would have a good chance of deflecting one that size even with today’s technology.

I normally end these pieces with a tip of my hat to one candidate or the other, but not today. Both McCain and Obama are talking the talk about the more expensive, flashy programs which could realistically be delayed for a bit, but not delivering answers on the more critical work to be done. I would like to see them admit that we may need to scale back Constellation funding a bit, but boost support for NEOP. (For the record, I’ve not found any comment on this from Bob Barr and his issues page is silent on NASA. We’ll try to ask him about this during our interview on Thursday.)