April 15, 2010Obama to Describe New Space Policy with Goal of Manned Mars Mission
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) - President Obama plans to describe a new space policy Thursday that envisions an end for a proposed return to the Moon, but sets its sights on a manned mission to Mars.
Obama is scheduled to make the announcement at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
The revised policy also would provide $6 billion in new funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Businesses would share a bigger part of the funding as part of Obama’s goal of turning more of the space program over to private enterprise.
“After years of underinvestment in new technology and unrealistic budgeting, the president will unveil an ambitious plan for NASA that sets the agency on a reinvigorated path of space exploration,” a White House statement said.
A key component of Obama’s plan is for NASA to begin development of a heavy lift rocket for deep space exploration.
Originally, NASA was designing the rocket for the Constellation program that would have returned America to the Moon to establish a permanent base.
A White House statement called the Constellation program “fundamentally un-executable.”
Obama’s plan calls for a redesign of the rocket to use it for manned Mars missions.
The new policy also would encourage commercial flights of crew and cargo to the International Space Station as well as technologies to sustain long-term human habitation beyond Earth’s orbit.
A small example of the greater collaboration with business that NASA seeks was announced this week in a contract with automaker Chrysler Group.
The company agreed to help NASA develop wireless technology and new materials that could be used for space travel. Chrysler then hopes to use the technology for automobiles.
Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget calls for $5.8 billion in new funds to be spent over five years at NASA’s Florida facilities, creating about 2,500 new jobs. Houston’s Johnson Space Center would receive $6 billion. The rest of NASA’s $19 billion budget would be spread throughout its facilities and private industries nationwide.
“With this budget and the steps it lays out, the United States and its partners in other nations, in industry, and in academia will pursue a more sustainable and affordable approach to spaceflight through the development of transformative technologies and systems,” said NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr.
Despite a bigger proposed budget, the retirement of the space shuttle program this year and the scuttling of Constellation are likely to mean 10,000 Kennedy Space Center employees lose their jobs. Thousands of others will get laid off at NASA’s other facilities.
Bolden said that some of the laid off employees would be replaced by others who perform different kinds of jobs.
New technologies already developed for the space program require fewer manual labor jobs, he said.
The new jobs would apply technology for deep space probes to scout out possible landing sites for humans on Mars, send a robot through the Sun’s atmosphere and set up orbiting observatories of the universe.
Some of the jobs would be generated by NASA’s flagship technology demonstrations program for developing a private-sector launch industry. It would begin with a $500 million budget in fiscal 2011 and be administered by the Kennedy Space Center.
The biggest job losses would come from cancellation of the Constellation program.
NASA has spent $9 billion over the past five years for the return to the Moon.
Obama supported Constellation during his campaign but organized a committee to review it shortly after getting elected.
The committee concluded Constellation was too expensive without an additional $3 billion per year. Instead, committee members recommended commercial launch vehicles to carry astronauts into low earth orbit but development of a heavy lifter rocket for flights to asteroids and Mars.
Obama’s policy speech Thursday is expected to include recommendations from the committee.
Even before he makes the speech, the idea of cancelling Constellation drew a letter of protest from a group of former astronauts.
A letter they wrote to Obama this week said, “This is wrong for our country for many reasons. We are very concerned about America ceding its hard earned global leadership in space technology to other nations.
We are stunned that, in a time of economic crisis, this move will force as many as 30,000 irreplaceable engineers and managers out of the space industry. We see our human exploration program, one of the most inspirational tools to promote science, technology, engineering and math to our young people, being reduced to mediocrity.”
AP
