[FPSPACE] US Space Policy: Mars Back on the Table?

[Peter Pesavento]

Apparently coming in mid-April the Obama Administration will provide an
outline of how the USA is going to do its space program, including manned
elements

 

>From Reuters

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6261NE20100307

 

 

Obama to push White House vision for NASA in April

 

Reuters) - President Barack Obama will outline his administration's vision
for space agency NASA and an eventual trip to Mars during a conference in
Florida in April, the White House said on Sunday.

 

Obama has had to defend his commitment to the space agency in the
politically important U.S. state after submitting a budget to Congress that
would cancel a program to return U.S. astronauts to the moon.

Obama wants to refocus NASA efforts on technologies to prepare for human
missions to other destinations in the solar system.

His budget would spend $6 billion over five years to turn over space
transportation to commercial companies as well as billions of dollars on
technology development and extending the life of the International Space
Station.

"After years of underinvestment in new technology and unrealistic budgeting,
the President's plan will unveil an ambitious plan for NASA that sets the
agency on a reinvigorated path of space exploration," the White House said
in a statement.

It said the investment in new technology would "help us travel from the
Earth's cradle to our nearby Solar System neighborhood in a more effective
and affordable way, thus laying the foundation to support journeys to the
Moon, asteroids, and eventually to Mars."

The White House-sponsored conference will take place on April 15.

"The conference will focus on the goals and strategies in this new vision,
the next steps, and the new technologies, new jobs, and new industries it
will create," it said. "Conference topics will include the implications of
the new strategy for Florida, the nation, and our ultimate activities in
space."

Florida is a political "swing" state that tends to shift its support between
Democrats and Republicans in presidential elections. In 2008 the state
backed Obama, a Democrat, for the presidency over his Republican challenger,
Senator John McCain.

 

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