Obama's Space Flop

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright April 16, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

              Announcing a major overhaul to the U.S. space program, President Barack Obama answered his critics—mainly former astronauts—for ending the aging 29-year-old Space Shuttle program.  Originating in 1972 under President Richard M. Nixon, the Shuttle followed the successful Apollo program, landing the first man in the moon July 16, 1969.   While slated to end at some point, the Shuttle was the only manned U.S. space program, transporting astronauts to the International Space Station.  Considered revolutionary in 1981, the reusable Shuttle was not without its problems, especially the Jan. 28, 1986 Challenger disaster only 73 seconds after liftoff and Feb. 1, 2003 Columbia explosion on reentry.  With 130 missions, the Shuttle program mirrored the great U.S. tradition inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s promise to a Joint Session of Congress May 25, 1961 to land a man on the moon by end of the decade.

            U.S. Space program went into overdrive after the shocking 1957 Russian launch of Sputnik, a rude wake up call, during the Eisenhower administration, of U.S. complacency.  Beaten to the punch by the Russians, the U.S. Space program took off like a rocket, eventually sending Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. into space May 5, 1961, ironically three weeks after Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth April 12, 1961, demonstrating Russian superiority.  Catching up to real-time, Obama insisted he wanted to “leap into the future,” not continue down the same dead end.  Instead of returning to the moon, Barack set a new goal of deep space travel to Mars, with a goal of having a new spacecraft by 2025.  “We’ll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history,” Barack told a crowd near the Kennedy Space Center launch pads at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

            Barack’s plan, while ambitious, pulls the rug out from underneath the U.S. Space Program, ending the successful Shuttle program and setting a distant horizon for future manned space flight.  “By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth.  And a landing on Mars to follow,” said Barack, paraphrasing Kennedy’s Sept. 12, 1962 speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas.  By reordering U.S. priorities, Obama received much-deserved criticism for potentially hurting the space industry in Florida.  Claiming he was “100% committed to the mission of NASA and its future,” Barck’s plan to scrub current Shuttle missions and a return to the moon didn’t sit well with space enthusiasts.  No matter how dismal the economy, the space program provides inspiration to ordinary citizens and a loud message of U.S. technological leadership abroad.

            When China launched its first manned orbital space flight Oct. 15, 2003, it should have alerted NASA that the U.S. must redouble efforts to stay ahead of the race.  Based largely on the Russia Soyuz capsule design, China launched 38-year-old Yang Liwei aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft powered by a March 2F rocket, taking 14, 90-minute earthly rotations over 21 hours before parachuting back to the Gobi Desert.  Barack’s plan for deep space travel to Mars doesn’t assure U.S. space supremacy but guarantees a murky future.  Whatever happened to Icarcus falling to earth in the ancient Greek myth, Obama’s long-range plan damages continuity of the U.S. manned space program begun when Shepard lifted off from Cape Canaveral nearly 50 years ago.  Whether the Shuttle is scheduled to end or not, the U.S. must have an active manned program to compete with the Russians and Chinese.

            U.S. commitment to the International Space Station requires ongoing support flights requiring a new, more versatile spacecraft.  Former President George W. Bush committed the U.S. to return to the moon with a new spacecraft, similar to the Russian Soyuz or new Chinese Shenzhou 5.  “We’ve been there before,” said Obama, announcing an end to Bush’s plan to return to the moon.  “There’s a lot more space to explore,” referring to his ambitious plans to develop a new spacecraft to visit an asteroid and eventual travel to Mars.  Shortly after China finished their first manned flight in 2003, they announced plans for unmanned and then manned flights to the moon.  Whether China’s National Space Administration is bluffing or not, the U.S. should move forward with more doable space projects, like building the Soyuz-like spacecraft called the Orion space vehicle.

            Obama’s latest overhaul of NASA throws the baby out with the bathwater, planning for interplanetary space travel.  While there’s nothing wrong with future plans, the U.S. must have, in the mean time, a viable manned space program before reaching for the stars. When JFK announced his goal to land a man on the moon only 20 days after the first U.S. manned space flight, it was far more realistic than Obama’s plan for interplanetary travel.  Working with existing space technology, the U.S. shouldn’t scrap 50 years of continuity and overreach for pie-in-the-sky.  Like the Chinese and Russians, the U.S. must get back to basics, developing a better reusable space vehicle, like the Orion project, to better service the ISS and return to the moon.  There’s nothing old-hat about developing and new-and-improved spacecraft, servicing the ISS and returning to earth’s closest celestial body.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.