Bush Outlines Plan for 2015 Moon Landing

ABC News ^ | 14 Jan 03 | The Associated Press

[.cnI redruM]

WASHINGTON Jan. 14 — President Bush beckoned the nation "forward into the universe" on Wednesday, outlining a costly new effort to return Americans to the moon as early as 2015 and use it as a waystation to Mars and beyond.

Bush said he envisioned "a new foothold on the moon...and new journeys to the world beyond our own," underscoring a renewed commitment to manned spaceflight less than a year after the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and a crew of seven.

In a speech delivered at NASA headquarters a few blocks from the White House, Bush unveiled a plan to withdraw the United States from the International Space Station by 2010 and retire the aging space shuttle fleet at about the same time. In its place, he called for development of a new Crew Exploratory Vehicle, capable of carrying astronauts to the space station and the moon.

Bush said early financing would total $12 billion for exploration over the next five years, only $1 billion of it in new funds. That meant that even if he wins a second term in office, his successors in the Oval Office would be responsible for finding the rest of the money for a program likely to run into the hundreds of billions of dollars

[.cnI redruM]

I wish we would be even more aggressive. It's humiliating and stupid that we haven't expanded past Earth yet. We have what it takes.

We just have our heads firmly esconsed up our forth points of contanct. A nation in decline spends thirty-three and a third as much on a welfare drug bill as it does on space exploration. The shame.

[theDentist]

That's on target. We're too intent on being "compassionate" and "caring" and "giving" that we made the friggin nanny and welfare states more important than discovery, education, and exploration!

[Williams]

Not to mention national defense.

[quietolong]

Old NASA
May 25 1961 JFK speech to go to the Moon
Never been done before
July 16 1969 NASA does it in 8 years 2 months

New look like America PC NASA

Bush’s speech to go to the Moon Jan 2004
It’s been done but forgot how and still don’t know if they can do it in 11 years for who know how much.

Old NASA could have put men on Mars in 1975 or 1985 with a slower pace.


NASA gets away with blatant age discrimination AND Some reader feedback.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1007763/posts

http://www.spaceprojects.com/minority-contracts

[MikeJ75]

It may be costly, but it's worth it.

Although there will be few immediate direct benefits, there will be many important indirect benefits. I think the two most important indirect benefits are (1) the inspiration that it provides to young people (who will have to earn enough to pay my Social Security!), and (2) other, more immediately practical uses for the technology that will be developed to complete the missions.

Good job, Mr. President. Let's hope Congress provides the funding.

[sheltonmac]

Billions more taxpayer dollars to send people to a barren wasteland we've already visited? Do we really think anything's changed up there in the last 30 years? Big government spending is big government spending whether it's on Medicare or moon launches.

[Scholastic]

http://www.peroutka2004.com/