Advertisement But as the Obama administration announced on Monday it was not going to follow through with planned NASA missions, it was evident. No more plans for any NASA-led, long-range manned space exploration? It’s downright depressing.
President Barack Obama wants to invest $6 billion over five years to put a commercial taxi to orbit. Sounds a lot like Virgin Galactic -- and it’s supposed to operate a lot like it, too.
Obama’s plan is to allow private corporations to take over space flight. The whole hilarious concept of “Take me to your leader” has new meaning. It’s now a corporate CEO instead of the president. Well, at least alien life would know exactly how things operate here on Earth.
Not only is Obama axing the mission to the Moon, but the Ares rocket program is out, too. This means once the space shuttle fleet is retired next year, the United States will be fully dependent on Russia to supply the International Space Station.
Listening to the BBC overnight Sunday, the story played out like this: The resources put into the space program of the United States is a status report on our nation as a whole. With the Obama plan, the United States looks like it’s packing up. Yep, an $18 trillion deficit will be racked up before 2020, so we might as well fire the astronauts. Pack up the Tang, boys. Only remote-controlled toys are going out of Earth orbit.
"The president’s proposed NASA budget begins the death march for the future of U.S. human space flight," Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) said. "The cancellation of the Constellation program and the end of human space flight does represent change -- but it is certainly not the change I believe in."
Now, considering our nation’s economic situation, perhaps killing the Man on the Moon is a good thing. It’s far less expensive to develop remote control space probes than something that can sustain human life. Also, certainly there are corporations interested in getting federal money to develop new space technology.
But Obama’s plan will initially hurt the economy. According to the Washington Post, the state of Florida alone will lose 7,000 jobs when the space shuttle program ends.
Not everyone is unhappy. NASA administrator Charles Bolden said Monday that NASA will be working on new technologies that could make it possible for astronauts to explore the solar system.
"Imagine trips to Mars that take weeks instead of nearly a year," Bolden said in the Post.
And Obama’s budget calls for NASA to get more money than anticipated. That’s where the $6 billion for the new space vehicle comes into play.
Betting long on technology is nice. And George W. Bush’s plan to go back to the Moon was mainly half-baked. True space buffs had set their sights on having a manned mission to Mars.
The Moon was heroic for 1969. Traveling to Mars by 2025 would have been inspirational -- inspiration for another America. We can’t afford that kind of America.
It’s sad. It’s unlikely Generation Xers will see a manned mission to Mars in their lifetime.
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Indianapolis and New Orleans play in the Super Bowl this Sunday. The Saints are more explosive and talented. The Colts have more experience. It could make for a good game. The Colts are 6-point favorites.
And, just in case you didn’t know, it’s Day 12 of the Brett Favre retirement watch over in Minnesota.
Kurt Warner retired from the Arizona Cardinals last week. He said he was 100 percent sure it was the right decision. Warner was 9-4 in the post season and won a Super Bowl. He holds 20 NFL records, including the distinction of being the only quarterback never to be shut out in a game.
He’ll be in the Hall of Fame -- first ballot. Pretty good for a one-time grocery clerk.
E-mail Matt Johnson at matt.johnson@lee.net.
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