Obama's Space Program in Shambles

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright November 15, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

             When Space Shuttle Discovery’s final mission STS-133 was postponed due to a fuel leak Nov. 5, it raised grave concerns for space enthusiasts, realizing that an active U.S. Space Program draws to an end.  First launched in April 12, 1981, the Space Transportation System or Orbiter was supposed to revolutionize space travel, at least to and from the orbiting International Space Station.  Viewed as a revolutionary design, the 184 foot-long, 240,000-pound vehicle, capable of carrying a 50,000 payload, was launched clumsily into orbit by two massive Solid Rocket Boosters, more powerful than the Saturn V rockets launching the manned Apollo moon flights.   Problems with the “O-rings” caused the Challenger to explode Jan. 28, 1986 shortly after liftoff, losing all seven crew.  Another mishap Feb. 1, 2003 with heat-protective tiles caused the Columbia to burn-up reentering the earth’s atmosphere.

            While the Space Shuttle enabled the U.S. space program to help build the International Space Station, the Shuttle’s design was not built for interplanetary travel.  President Barack Obama, anticipating the Shuttle’s retirement, announced April 14, 2010 cancellation of NASA Constellation interplanetary travel.  With the Shuttle fleet retiring, Barack proposed a scaled down unmanned space vehicle capable, if necessary, of providing emergency escape services to the ISS.  Hi idea of building, over the next 20 years, a new space vehicle capable of landing of a distant asteroid or eventually Mars, in effect, kills the U.S. space program.  Promising a murky future is a far cry from President John .F. Kennedy’s bold promise in 1961 of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade.  Instead of landing on an asteroid, Obama should recommit the U.S. to building a permanent manned moon space station.

             With the Space Shuttle Program ending, Obama should convene a White House conference debating NASA’s next step.  His April 14 announcement pulled the rug from underneath the U.S. manned space program.  Setting distant space goals do nothing to inspire generations of young Americans to achieve the national science and math goals sought by the president.  “The president’s new plans for NASA are flat-out irresponsible,” said Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana.).  “He has evidently decided . . . that it’s time for us to simply walk away from manned space exploration for the foreseeable future, with no clear timeline for returning to or for achieving any of our goals for deep-space exploration,” challenging Obama to come up with a better plan.  China launched a man into orbit June 30, 2005 and followed up recently with a lunar probe Oct. 2, 2010, preparing for an eventual moon launch.

            It’s been over 41 years since Apollo 11 landed on the moon July 20, 1969, a rude reminder how the U.S. Space Program took a wrong turn with Space Shuttle.  While there’s been much to cheer about, the Shuttle program was a dead-end, preventing NASA for preparing for the next step.  Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft made an unmanned maiden voyage Nov. 26, 1966.  A year later Soyuz 1 carried Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Komorov into space, killing him on crash-landing.  Since then, Russians have stuck with their Soyuz craft, refining it over the years.  China’s Shenzhou spacecraft bears striking similarity to the Russian Soyuz TMA version, slapping NASA in the face.  Now years behind Russia and China, the U.S. most redouble efforts to design a new more versatile manned space vehicle.  Instead of reinventing the wheel, they should follow the Russian and Chinese model.

            NASA’s Space Shuttle Program clearly followed a short-sighted path of delivering massive cargo to the ISS.  It’s left the U.S. Space Program bereft of a reusable, versatile space vehicle capable of returning cargo and astronauts to earth’s closest celestial body.  Instead of throwing more cash into the ISS, the U.S. should pivot on building a Soyuz or Shenzhou-like vehicle capable of traveling and landing on the moon with the objective of building a permanent manned space station.  Obama’s plan to spend the next 15-20 years working on a new spacecraft to land on an asteroid makes no sense.  “We’ve been there before,” said Obama, rejecting the idea of returning to the moon.  “There’s a lot more of space to explore,” insisting his plan to land on an asteroid is the next step.  If Barack follows that path, the Russians and Chinese will both dominate the space race.

            Barack needs to urgently recalculate U.S. Space Program priorities.  He must direct NASA to build a versatile Soyuz or Shenzhou-like vehicle capable of interplanetary travel and landing on the moon and beyond.  While there’s nothing wrong with landing on asteroids or going to mars, Barack must get the cart behind the horse, first going back to the moon before the Russians and Chinese.  “The Orion effort will be part of the technological foundation for the advance spacecraft to be uses in the future deep space missions.  In fact, Orion will be readied for flight right here in this room,” said Barack April 14 in Cape Canaveral.  Orion must be reconfigured with existing space technology to give NASA the fastest path to a new versatile spacecraft.  Grounding the Shuttle Fleet should serve as a rude wake-up call that NASA needs to get back to the drawing board and catch up.

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.

©1999-2012 Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.
(310) 204-8300
All Rights Reserved.