Obama unveils NASA ‘vision’ in Kennedy Space Center speech
By Mark K. Matthews and Robert Block, Orlando Sentinel
orlandosentinel.com
( I caught this live, and I LIKE it. Obama is privatizing the low-Earth-orbit work done by the shuttle. Round-filing Bush's pointless manned-moon mission 2. Concentrating on further objectives. )
3:25 PM EDT, April 15, 2010
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER -- President Barack Obama, standing aside a mock-up of the crew capsule that he hopes can one day carry astronauts to far-off destinations, told 200 people here Thursday that "I am 100-percent committed to the future of NASA.".
"Space exploration is not a luxury, not an afterthought in our quest for a brighter future," the president told a group that included NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, Florida politicians and Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin in a 26-minute speech. "It is an essential part of that quest."
The nearby capsule, dubbed Orion, had previously been cancelled under Obama's early vision for NASA. But after pressure from Congress, Obama this week decided to bring it back and a model of the roughly 15-foot capsule stood to the right of where Obama spoke.
"Orion will be readied for flight right here in this room," the president said, referring to plans for the building that had been made under the Constellation moon-rocket program.
"We will finalize a rocket design by 2015 and then begin to build it," the president added. "That's at least two years earlier than the previous program [Constellation] ..that was behind schedule and over budget." He said his new program was "transformative."
And in an implict response to criticals who have said Obama's plan would end America's human spaceflight program, the president declared,"The bottom line is that no one is more committed…to human spaceflight than I am.
"But," he said as applause swelled, "we've got to do it different."
Obama said he expects that manned capsules will be circling Mars by the mid-2030s, with landing soon after. Striving for Mars, he said, would require research and development of new technologies to dramatically extend U.S. reach into space.
By contrast, he said, he does not support a return to the moon: "We've been there before…there is a lot more of space to explore."
Earlier today, Air Force One touched down at KSC's shuttle landing facility under overcast skies. It was the first time a sitting president has flown into KSC's shuttle landing facility, says KSC staff.
Obama then immediately drove to nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where he toured the commercial launch facility of the California-based SpaceX company. SpaceX is expects to test its Falcon 9 rocket – capable of carrying cargo to the International Space Station -- in the coming months.
Its founder, internet tycoon Elon Musk, has pushed official Washington to have NASA rely more on commercial rockets - a centerpiece of Obama's space plan.
Obama's visit follows several rough months for the White House since the administration unveiled its new plan for NASA in February as part of its 2011 budget proposal. While his vision included $19 billion for NASA next year -- a $300 million increase -- it drew enormous criticism.
Most of the critics focused on Obama's decision to cancel the Constellation moon rocket program that NASA had designed to replace the shuttle. The agency has spent $9 billion on the project since 2005, which aimed to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 on new Ares rockets and an Orion capsule.
However, an independent space panel determined last year that NASA would miss that 2020 goal by at least a decade because of technical and financial problems. What's more, its goal of producing a rocket and crew capsule capable of reaching the International Space Station by 2015 would slip by at least two years and possibly more, the panel found.
With that report in hand, the Obama administration decided to embark on a new path, spending billions on satellite and robotic exploration probes while completely revamping the agency's manned space program.
Under his plan, NASA would rely on commercial rocket companies to resupply the International Space Station with crew and cargo. The rockets would launch from a modernized Kennedy Space Center and would include existing rockets – the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets of United Space Alliance – as well as new spacecraft being designed and build by SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp.
In the meantime, NASA engineers would focus their efforts on developing futuristic new technologies, such as radiation shielding, in-space propulsion and a new heavy-lift rocket for future human exploration missions.
The plan initially drew criticism from several corners because it did not give NASA a destination and a deadline. Lawmakers from states with Constellation contracts also jumped on the plan because of the potential of hurting future job prospects.
In response, the Obama administration began to slowly amend their plan. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden told Congress this spring that the agency's ultimate goal was Mars, although he did not give a timeframe for that mission. Nor would the administration talk about deadlines for interim goals – such as potential missions to the moon or nearby asteroids.
Then this week, the White House announced that it would revive the Orion capsule that it originally wanted to cancel with the rest of Constellation – a tactical maneuver aimed at addressing several concerns Congress has raised since February.
Lawmakers have complained that relying on commercial companies puts NASA at risk in case they cannot reach the International Space Station, a feat that they have yet to accomplish. By bringing back Orion – as a scaled-back version that would be taken to the space station on a commercial rocket -- the administration can say that it has a government-run vehicle as back-up.
Including Orion in its new plan also gives the administration a potential ally in Lockheed Martin, the capsule's manufacturer and strong lobbying presence on Capitol Hill.
Obama today will also announce he's given NASA a deadline of 2015 to settle on the design for a new rocket capable of going to the moon, asteroids or eventually Mars.
He'll also aim to garner support from Florida lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-Smyrna Beach. The revised proposal includes $40 million to help KSC workers find new jobs, as well as a refocused effort on transforming Kennedy Space Center into a futuristic commercial spaceport.
Mark K. Matthews can be reached at mmatthews@orlandosentinel.com or 202-824-8222. Robert Block can be reached at rblock@orlandosentinel.com or 321-639-0522.
Copyright © 2010, Orlando Sentinel |
