What was the philosophical cornerstone of Daniel Goldin's tenure at NASA?
Faster, better, cheaper
The philosophical cornerstone established during Daniel Goldin's administration was explicitly named 'faster, better, cheaper' (FBC). This maxim served as a direct, intentional response to previous mission failures, such as the Mars Observer project, which suffered from paralyzing caution, significant delays, and extremely high costs due to reliance on singular, large, monolithic projects. The core idea behind FBC was to fundamentally reorient NASA's approach to missions by prioritizing the development of spacecraft that were smaller, lighter, and less expensive. By reducing the cost and scale of individual missions, the agency aimed to increase the frequency of launches and achieve timely results and high value for the public, while mitigating the crippling fear associated with massive financial losses from single mission failures.
