The U.S. Air Force's Boeing X-37B, which began as a NASA craft but was transferred to the Pentagon in 2004, is an unmanned space plane that looks like a small space shuttle. Like the shuttle, it returns to Earth and lands on a runway. It has been flying successfully for five years. A scaled-up version with an astronaut crew to work outside the vehicle could reestablish America's ability to build and maintain big structures in Earth orbit.
Doubts about human space travel are clear in the Augustine Committee's review and the three reviews of NASA. The Augustine Commission in particular said "NASA's budget should match its mission and goals." Obama is requesting $18.529 billion for NASA in fiscal 2016, an increase of $519 million, or 2.9 percent, over 2015. That's a sizable investment, but NASA faces long-term budget pressures. Its challenge is to spend wisely and build on existing capabilities.
Money spent on human exploration should be used to develop capabilities needed for a meaningful program. Research into long space flights can be done at the International Space Station, which should therefore be vigorously supported. Abundant launch vehicles are already on the commercial market, and yet a new and very expensive launch vehicle, with undefined payload and mission, is being developed. Three spacecraft are being developed to carry astronauts to space. Does the nation need three space capsules with limited capabilities? The capability that is lacking is the one that saved Hubble and built the largest structure ever assembled and flown in space. A redesigned X-37 that can carry astronauts could provide such a capability.
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