Re: President Obama on Space
« Reply #1 on: 12/20/2011 03:11 PM »
We have to look at his history to understand why he can’t be trusted with this issue. In August 2008, he gave a speech in Titusville and promised four things -
1. Extension of the shuttle program by a minimum of one flight
2. Retention of the KSC workforce
3. Closure of the gap between shuttle and successor
4. Back to the Moon by 2020
The results -
1. No shuttle extension. STS-134 was added in October 2008 by the 110th Congress and George W. Bush via the 2008 NASA Authorization. STS-135 was added, not by Barack as promised, but through a bipartisan effort spearheaded by Senators Bill Nelson and Kay Bailey Hutchison and implemented via the 2010 NASA Authorization Act.
2. Most of the KSC workforce was laid off by default thanks to Barack not following through on promise #1.
3. Gap between shuttle and successor remained in place and in fact, widened (now 2019 or 2020 for MPCV debut).
4. Moon plans cancelled (Barack takes on a “been there, done that” stance). Asteroid set as destination.
All that’s to say is – don’t trust anything he has to say about space policy. He’s just trying to win votes. History shows you won’t get what you vote for with him. I’ll give him credit for extending ISS to 2020 and helping commercial get going a little faster, but that doesn’t make up for his intentional cancellation of the most capable space vehicle program in history. Yes, Bush started it in 2004, but Barack had a chance to overturn that decision and he failed to do so. Responsibility ultimately falls to him.
“The buck stops with me.” – Barack Obama
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