Space program must reach the moon, Mars and beyond

Prominent Business Leaders, Scientists on Bush's Mars-Moon Commission [Full Text]President George W. Bush announced Friday the business leaders, scientists and other spaceflight experts who will advise him on how to carry out the specifics of his new vision for putting humans back on the Moon and eventually on Mars.

Carleton S. "Carly" Fiorina, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, will serve on the nine-member commission. HP has previously sponsored Disney's new SPACE ride and a robotic lunar mission by TransOrbital Inc.

The new team also includes prominent Mars researcher Maria Zuber of MIT, planetary scientist Paul Spudis of Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist, book author and director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City.

The Presidential Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy is to be headed by former Air Force Secretary Edward C. Aldridge, Jr., Bush had said Jan. 14 when he presented his plan for refocusing NASA's human spaceflight activities.

Other members of the commission: Michael P. Jackson of Virginia, Laurie Ann Leshin of Arizona, Lester L. Lyles of Ohio and Robert Smith Walker of Pennsylvania.

The panel will advise the White House on what sort of science agenda should be considered for the Moon and other destinations as well as what human and robotic missions should be conducted to achieve Bush's vision.

The president said robots would return to the Moon around 2008, followed by the first humans by 2020. A permanent lunar base would then serve as a test bed to prepare for the first human mission to Mars. Bush outlined a pay-as-you-go approach, rather than asking for Apollo-era increases in the NASA budget.

The first budget request containing specifics related to the new plan is due out this week, when the 2005 budget request from the White House is presented. Officials say NASA's portion of the $2.2 trillion federal budget will be $16.2 billion in 2005, up from $15.5 billion in 2004. Some $1.09 billion of the new request will be targeted at fulfilling the Bush vision. Eventually, more money will be redirected from the space shuttle and international space station programs.

The 2005 budget request, as well as the components of the president's plan, must be approved by Congress for NASA to pursue the lofty goals.

The president said during his Jan. 14 speech that the new commission would advise him on the details for carrying out the vision and that continual revision of NASA's spaceflight plans would be made as costs were evaluated and technology developed.

The team members will consider which technologies to employ and how, strategically, to use resources on the Moon to accomplish the goals of extending the human presence in space, according to a White House statement.

"The most appropriate and effective roles for potential private sector and international participants" must also be weighed, Bush said in the statement, as well "methods for optimizing space exploration activities to encourage the interest of America's youth in studying and pursuing careers in mathematics, science, and engineering."

NASA is to fund the commission and provide administrative support. The members will serve without pay but will have their travel and other expenses covered. They are to report to the president within 120 days of their first meeting, according to a White House press statement.

The commission has been instructed to solicit views and opinions from the public, academia, and industry. [End]

George Sr. had his 90 day report, George Jr. is going for a 120 day report. Not comforting.

The 90 Day Report killed the original SEI by putting forward a half-trillion dollar plan that didn't do much beyond "flags and footprints". Let's hope the 120 Day Report sets forth a more coherent strategy and that it does a better job than its predecessor of answering the question "Why go to Mars?"

I don't see any names from the "Mars Underground" among the commissioners. The commission seems to be made up of space scientists and major donors. If this were a serious proposal, one would think that there would be some engineers involved.

Bob Zubrin may be annoying but he has the only strategy for getting people to Mars for less than half a trillion bucks that I've seen. And he has some interesting ideas for what to do when we get there - i.e. use indigenous resources to explore the planet and establish a self sufficient colony that could evolve into a second human inhabited world. If Bush was serious about this I think Zubrin or someone like him would have been included on the commission.

Tomorrow's Dream at Today's Expense?……………..No sum of money can rectify the damage U.S. foreign policy has done to its international image, especially during the last year. Our greatest problems, however, lie within our own borders. The American public should question the motives of this administration because we are living in an era of hypocrisy. Our president subjects the international community to U.S. regulations while simultaneously acting unilaterally as an autocratic hegemon, and he continually evokes notions of the future by proposing extravagant space travel while sentencing our children to live in a world where mistrust and hate reign, and where health care and education are low priorities.

The commencement of the year 2004 marked the beginning of a pivotal election year. Bush's term in office has been marked with tragedy, war and controversy. Before November, Bush and the Democratic nominee will vie for leadership of this country. The space exploration program Bush proposes serves as a smoke-screen for the problems he has created in this country and as a ploy for re-election this fall.

Space exploration is necessary, but not on the scale that is proposed for today. The heavens will be there for us tomorrow. Today, the American people need to get involved and force their government to adopt a more benign foreign policy and cultivate cohesiveness amongst the world's nations. The domestic focus should aim to better the conditions and standard of living of its citizens, pay off the budget deficit, and fund scientific exploration geared toward protecting the resources and people of our Earth, before looking up to explore (exploit?) the heavens.

Daphne LaBua is a Sophomore majoring in Political Science

Bob Zubrin may be annoying but he has the only strategy for getting people to Mars for less than half a trillion bucks that I've seen. And he has some interesting ideas for what to do when we get there - i.e. use indigenous resources to explore the planet and establish a self sufficient colony that could evolve into a second human inhabited world. If Bush was serious about this I think Zubrin or someone like him would have been included on the commission.

FACT: Congress would never fund a manned mission to Mars to search for life. It's pure science.

FACT: Learning to use lunar resources to build an Earth-Moon highway has economic and national security implications. The Moon: NASA's Proving Ground for Mars Missions and Beyond

George Sr. had his 90 day report, George Jr. is going for a 120 day report. Not comforting.

The 90 report was a NASA report, not an administration report.

The 90 Day Report killed the original SEI by putting forward a half-trillion dollar plan that didn't do much beyond "flags and footprints".

NASA's 30 year price tag killed the report. The dems and the LIBERAL media only look at 30 year totals when it's a GOP proposal.

Space exploration is the most exciting thing a Liberal could hope for. Things to look for in the future that may excite liberals about space.

Health Care: What if you could provide an environment for an injured person that would put zero stress on their body. Would they heal faster?
Pollution: What if you could export high pollution heavy industries off the planet? What would the elimination of acid rain be worth?
Energy Independence: What if you could replace coal, oil, and natural gas as the primary fuels to generate electricity? What would eliminating dams, replacing coal fired energy plants, and allowing the true elimination of pollution for electric cars? What would that be worth?
Terrorism: What if we took the money away from people like the Saudi Royal Family? What if they didn't have millions of our money to throw away on supporting political causes like Islamic extremism?
Terra-Forming: What if there was another Earth out there to live on. What would it be worth to have a back up of civilization just in case the worst happened and Lucifer's Hammer arrived?
What if you could realistically return Earth to a Paradise, by taking all the problems somewhere else? Heck they could start their own communal colony out there to live together sharing in all things, just like the first Pilgrim Comonwealth to arrive in America did.

Now why do they want to prevent exploration?

Now why do they want to prevent exploration?

Because they want Americans to be dumb, depressed, dependent and democrat.

they were a troll. They are gone.

The only damage in foreign US policy is the fact that Democrats as a political party are not relevant in the eyes of foreign nations. The "damage" is the fact that Dashel or Kennedy can't use their party status as influence any more.

A push to space makes more sense than Jimmy Carter giving away the Pannema Canal, only to have its entry points bought by the Chinese. More sense than cancelling the B-1 bomber. More sense than Clinton's first order of presidential business being homosexuals in the military. More sense than Hitlarycare.

That student could have said the same exact thing (whining) about JFK's call to the moon.

Bush must know something, Japan has announced they are revamping their space program for manned flight, India is has also announce plans for manned spaceflight.

The race is on.

The race is on.

Bump!

"Space is a place, not a program."