Obama Aims Space Program at Mars

"So, we'll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history."

Looks like Bruce Willis is being called back to active duty.

With all the other failed and ineffective programs this admin has so far. Where is the money going to come from.........Al Gore's locked box maybe

Gotta love politics.

Obama trims back on space exploration = "He's giving away US superiority in space, elimintating jobs and dooming us all when the big asteroid comes!!!"

Obama expands on space exploration = "He's wasting our money on science, keeping the private sector out of space exploration and dooming us all to global terrorism!!!

Don't know about y'all but I don't think outer space is ready to handle us just yet.

He just came from Russian, to try to duplicate a Reagan Tactic to gain public support for his administration.

Only difference is....no matter what the popular opinion is, a person like Reagan Leads .........Obama copies and hopes for popular opinion results. Administration based on the latest polling direction.......just like bill's administration.

It's peculiar the way that numbers play such a central role in politics while not actually meaning anything.

When a given politician bucks the poll #s and does something unpopular he/she is lauded as "leading" or "having vision" or "beliving in principles" by supporters. Similarly detractors point to the #s and bemoan that he/she is "ignoring the will of the people" or "obviously corrupt" or "a dictator".

And if poll #s support a politician, then that's clear proof he/she is doing what's all correct. Unless you're across the table, in which case it proves he/she is a spineless hack.

It's enough to drive even Lewis Carroll quite mad.

To paraphrase the old song..."You say pohtaytow, I say pahtahtoe...let's call the whole thing off."

When a given politician bucks the poll #s and does something unpopular he/she is lauded as "leading" or "having vision" or "beliving in principles" by supporters.

I disagree, Reagan's idealism was consistant, It was the same in the 70's as the 80's with very little change (only change was with the change of the time but basically the same) and it was not well accepted with open arms. While say Clinton sat on the fence and his Idealism changed as the wind blows.

And his could change 180 degrees...... for, against, for, against.

And Obama is tring to get the acceptance and change the attention from health care and tax hikes.........good luck.

"When a given politician bucks the poll #s and does something unpopular he/she is lauded as "leading" or "having vision" or "beliving in principles" by supporters. Similarly detractors point to the #s and bemoan that he/she is "ignoring the will of the people" or "obviously corrupt" or "a dictator"."

It's called 'marketing or spin'

Actually, he's directing more funds toward private sector space development in conjunction with NASA.

I biggest fear is that there is not going to be a plan with substance behind it, so you might as well be giving that money to Hollywood to make the next sci-fi movie.

Even more ironic, NASA has historically relied on the public sector for designing and building all of its hardware, so what has really changed? Where is the plan?

That has been NASA's problem for the last 30+ years. There hasn't been a mission for the agency that has been consistent nor a stretch-goal for humanity.

NASA is a can-do agency, but unfortunately, this nation has no vision for NASA. That died in the early 1970s.

so you might as well be giving that money to Hollywood to make the next sci-fi movie.

maybe, that is the foundation basis of his space program

As the saying goes "the devil is in the details". I am not sure of what the plans are or if they have even been drafted. Going to Mars is ambitious and costly.

I am a Canadian and cannot be involved in the current decisions. However, I really think it is time to get some global cooperation to fund and design the ambition. The funding would not be unlike the space station program but I would include all countries. India and China and Russia plus Europe. Of course I include Canada and Australia in the plan. I think globally we all gain from an advancement as proposed. The onus on the American taxpayer may be high and these costs should be spread around, especially if the payback is expected to be long term.

I like the idea of a space elevator and feel more would be gained in providing a better delivery system to space. The space elevator was discussed in prior threads and maybe it is time to advance the idea.

It's a worthy concept to have many countries involved in space exploration. But anything that involves many countries is going to be affected by politics from time-to-time and no doubt will throw a monkey wrench into the whole process. And my hunch is the American taxpayer would be paying for most of the development/exploration costs. I tend to lean towards America returning to space superiority and attempting to leave the brain power here in the good 'ole USA. But we'll have to wait for the Obama administration to expire to aim for worthy space goals. Bill

I am still digesting what he said and what is being reported in the news.

What I understand so far is he has a "plan" that sounded more like a vision or idea. I tend to think of a plan as something clearly detailed and ready for implementation.

I have visited NASA several times and each time, before the cancellation of the constellation project, they were outlining our path to Mars. First we would return to the Moon and establish a base. From that base the trip to Mars would continue after resupplying and fueling operations. They also were excited about possible missions to asteroids.

So his "plan" is very similar to the direction NASA has been working on for the last several years, except he is skipping a step by avoiding the Moon and making a leap towards Mars without the Constellation project's rocket.

I am still pondering the wisdom of skipping steps. I am old enough to have followed the progress of NASA, and what I remember is they did not move on to the next phase of exploration of their plan until the previous step was completed successfully.

On a side note and question, during one of my trips to NASA, I was told they have patents that earn 15 dollars for each dollar appropriated by congress. All though it sounds reasonable, I have not yet investigated this claim. So 1/16th of their budget comes from congress or does all the money go back to congress for redistribution?