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Log inObama Suggests $2 Billion In New Funding for NASA
Obama Suggests $2 Billion In New Funding for NASA
by Outspoken on Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:48 pm
Obama Suggests $2 Billion In New Funding for NASA
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sen. Barack Obama has detailed a comprehensive space plan that includes $2 billion in new funding to reinvigorate NASA and a promise to make space exploration and science a significantly higher priority if he is elected president.
Campaigning in Florida yesterday, Sen. John McCain responded by telling business leaders that Obama has changed his position on some key questions of NASA funding in recent months and should not be trusted to support the program.
While Obama's ambitious plan embraces President Bush's 2004 "vision" to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 and later to Mars -- a plan McCain co-sponsored in the Senate -- the Democratic presidential candidate said the administration's "poor planning and inadequate funding" have undermined the effort and jeopardized U.S. leadership in space.
In particular, he criticized administration policies that will lead to a five-year period after 2010 when "the United States will have to depend on foreign rockets and spacecraft to send Americans to orbit" -- even to the largely U.S.-funded $100 billion international space station.
"As president, I'll make our space program a priority again by devoting the attention and resources needed to not only inspire the world with feats of exploration but also improve life here on Earth," Obama said.
His plan also calls for reestablishing the National Aeronautics and Space Council to coordinate all civilian, commercial and military space programs; the body was in place in earlier decades but disbanded in 1992. As a signal that NASA will be a higher priority for him, Obama said the council would report directly to the president.
McCain did not directly address Obama's proposals, released on Sunday, but did emphasize that the Democrat had earlier opposed full funding for the NASA program to build a new generation of spacecraft to replace the shuttle by 2015. Obama's position has shifted since last winter, and he now says the replacement Constellation spaceship program is essential both for space exploration and for encouraging students in science and math.
"Sometimes it is difficult to know what a politician will actually do once in office, because they say different things at different times to different people," McCain said in a closed-door meeting of business leaders in Cocoa Beach. "This is a particular problem when a candidate has a short, thin record on the issues, as in the case of Senator Obama. Let me say, just in case Senator Obama does decide to return to his original plan of cutting NASA funding -- I oppose such cuts."
He also said: "I will ensure that space exploration remains a top priority and that the U.S. continues to lead the world in this field."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/18/AR2008081802171.html?wpisrc=newsletter
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sen. Barack Obama has detailed a comprehensive space plan that includes $2 billion in new funding to reinvigorate NASA and a promise to make space exploration and science a significantly higher priority if he is elected president.
Campaigning in Florida yesterday, Sen. John McCain responded by telling business leaders that Obama has changed his position on some key questions of NASA funding in recent months and should not be trusted to support the program.
While Obama's ambitious plan embraces President Bush's 2004 "vision" to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 and later to Mars -- a plan McCain co-sponsored in the Senate -- the Democratic presidential candidate said the administration's "poor planning and inadequate funding" have undermined the effort and jeopardized U.S. leadership in space.
In particular, he criticized administration policies that will lead to a five-year period after 2010 when "the United States will have to depend on foreign rockets and spacecraft to send Americans to orbit" -- even to the largely U.S.-funded $100 billion international space station.
"As president, I'll make our space program a priority again by devoting the attention and resources needed to not only inspire the world with feats of exploration but also improve life here on Earth," Obama said.
His plan also calls for reestablishing the National Aeronautics and Space Council to coordinate all civilian, commercial and military space programs; the body was in place in earlier decades but disbanded in 1992. As a signal that NASA will be a higher priority for him, Obama said the council would report directly to the president.
McCain did not directly address Obama's proposals, released on Sunday, but did emphasize that the Democrat had earlier opposed full funding for the NASA program to build a new generation of spacecraft to replace the shuttle by 2015. Obama's position has shifted since last winter, and he now says the replacement Constellation spaceship program is essential both for space exploration and for encouraging students in science and math.
"Sometimes it is difficult to know what a politician will actually do once in office, because they say different things at different times to different people," McCain said in a closed-door meeting of business leaders in Cocoa Beach. "This is a particular problem when a candidate has a short, thin record on the issues, as in the case of Senator Obama. Let me say, just in case Senator Obama does decide to return to his original plan of cutting NASA funding -- I oppose such cuts."
He also said: "I will ensure that space exploration remains a top priority and that the U.S. continues to lead the world in this field."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/18/AR2008081802171.html?wpisrc=newsletter
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
