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“Ultimately, the government has to let go of its iron grip on access to space,” he says.
Commercialization of space could be akin to the commercialization of the Internet
in both supporting and using the energies of the private sector, and in fostering uses
and markets undreamed of by the originators. And, like the commercialization of
the Internet, it is initially being resisted by those in the established order.
Holmes studied aerospace engineering (“I didn’t understand either word when I
enrolled but I knew it concerned airplanes” he says) at the University of Kansas and
went straight to NASA in 1974, just as the Apollo program had wound down and
NASA was preparing the Viking voyage to Mars for launch in 1976. But his specialty
was aeronautics, and Holmes got to work with some of the giants of aircraft design
of the time. Holmes’s first flight research involved testing the first computerdesigned
airfoil – “the GAW-1, which translates as ‘General Aviation Whitcomb’
series 1, with legends such as Richard Whitcomb of supersonic area rule and winglet
fame,” he recalls. From its beginnings in 1915, NASA developed the technologies for
civilian and military aircraft that led to the 20th-century aerospace industry.
Holmes continues: “We worked in this culture of entitlement, where the norm was
publicly funded research, for its own sake. NASA was its own customer. The goal for
a NASA researcher was to get published. But that culture will not be relevant to the
21st century in either air or space activities. My job as director for strategy is to help
create the 21st-century version of NASA.”
“In its day, NASA took the risks that were beyond the discount time-lines of privatesector
investors and produced public-domain knowledge on aerodynamics, structures
and materials, propulsion, flight controls and other technologies and put those
out in reports that the industry could use,” says Holmes. “Is there a role for government
in incubating technology foundations for 21st century? Or can the VCs do it
by themselves? I don’t know what the answer is. But I do know that government is
most effective when the public and private sectors figure out how to collaborate.”
Although Holmes’ technical history is within the aviation side of NASA, his current
role in leading strategic thinking has considerable influence on the organization as a
whole. He recently led the development of strategies for the next-generation air and
space transportation system at the joint office between the White House and six
departments and agencies. Moreover, he adds, “I believe that it is through energizing
external influence as the customer that I can help NASA facilitate emergence of
commercial space flight and personal air travel.” That is what he is doing here at PC
Forum and Flight School.
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