Free Republic

2/22/2010 - ORLANDO, Fla. (AFNS) -- The Air Force's highest ranking uniformed officer spoke on the value of space and the emerging medium of cyberspace during the Air Warfare Symposium and Technology Exposition Feb. 18 in Orlando. "Virtually all aspects of military operations are affected in some way by the capabilities provided from (space and cyberspace), and it's difficult to overstate their importance to the success of our Armed Forces," said Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff.

NASA's Constellation programme, which was going to fly manned capsules to the International Space Station in (maybe) 2015, to the moon in (maybe) 2020, and to Mars someday, is dead. Some people are mourning it. I'm not.

..former astronaut Cernan says cutting the Constellation program will relegate the U.S. to being second in the world of space exploration. With the retirement of the space shuttle in 2010, the U.S. would have to rely on Russia to take American astronauts to and from "our own space station," The Constellation program followed logical steps that would break new ground by sending the U.S. to Mars, added Cernan. He also said he believes that taking away the dream of human space exploration will have a negative impact on education. "We have a responsibility in our country to inspire our kids...