I, like many others here at NASA, have spent the past few days reading and thinking about the new plan the president has proposed for NASA and what it really means. I work in science research, so part of this new plan makes me happy. But other parts of this plan were harder to digest. Since its inception, NASA has always had a vision to achieve the impossible and push the boundaries. I feel that hasn’t changed with the new proposal. But I can see why people think it has.
 
Two years ago, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the group that came up with the 20 year vision for JSC. It was for “JSC to be a collaborative, innovative, and integrated space center, boldly expanding the frontiers of human space exploration.” I can’t help thinking that this new plan the president has laid out is the first step to get us exactly there.
 
I then started thinking about how we got to that vision. It was hard. Lots of long nights, frustration, arguments and running around in circles until one day it finally clicked. What are wonderful mentors were trying to get us to do was open our minds, erase the boundaries and think outside the box. Why was this seemingly easy concept so difficult? We are all trained in a system of rules, boundaries, goals, processes, etc. These aren’t bad things, they are needed to succeed. But they can come at a price. Some of these can hinder innovation, slow creativity and have so strong a focus that the big picture is lost. And yet we are so tied to them that the thought of going beyond them or even questioning why they exist is not something that crosses our minds often. After several months, our group had opened our minds and started to think about the big picture, started questioning and started really thinking. In the end we came up with something that was new and exciting. Many of my colleagues have continued to innovate and inspire and I see no signs of them stopping! I call upon them now to help make others see that NASA has now been given the same chance the 30 of us got 2 years ago.
 
Although at first glance the lack of a “mission” may feel like we have lost something, really look at the opportunity we have been given. It’s not going to be easy, harder for some then for others, but here at NASA we have people who really do achieve the impossible every day. With the knowledge and passion that every person in this agency has for the dream of exploration, we might even surprise ourselves in how far we can go when we are allowed to open our minds and let the creative process happen.