{"id":87547,"date":"2010-02-02T23:04:53","date_gmt":"2010-02-02T15:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/obamas-nasa-constellation-cut-sparks-heated-debate\/"},"modified":"2010-02-02T23:04:53","modified_gmt":"2010-02-02T15:04:53","slug":"obamas-nasa-constellation-cut-sparks-heated-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/obamas-nasa-constellation-cut-sparks-heated-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama\u2019s NASA Constellation Cut Sparks Heated Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[02-02-10] U.S. President Barack Obama\u2019s decision to cut <strong>NASA<\/strong>\u2019s manned Constellation lunar mission program and invest $6 billion in commercial launch companies to replace the retiring Space Shuttle has drawn sharp divisions between NASA and commercial industry supporters.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The <strong>U.S. Commercial Spaceflight Federation<\/strong> welcomed the President\u2019s decision, which was announced as part of the U.S. government\u2019s 2010 fiscal year budget, released Feb. 1. \u201cThe commercial crew initiative will create thousands of new high-tech jobs, help open the space frontier with lower-cost launches and inspire a new generation with high-profile missions. This initiative is on par with the government Airmail Act that spurred the growth of early aviation and led to today\u2019s passenger airline industry, which generates billions of dollars annually for the American economy,\u201d Bretton Alexander, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said during a conference call.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Alexander joined a panel of commercial space company CEOs to discuss the benefits that the new budget may bring to the domestic private space industry, which has, in recent years, suffered due to lack of political support and strong international competition. \u201cInvesting in commercial spaceflight will allow us to create U.S. jobs rather than continuing to send billions of dollars to Russia to fly our astronauts to space. With so many capable American companies here at home, why would we send all of U.S. human spaceflight to Russia? Let\u2019s create those thousands of jobs right here in the United States,\u201d said Alexander.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>SpaceX<\/strong> CEO Elon Musk, whose company was contracted by NASA in December 2008 to transport supplies to the International Space Station under the COTS program, also voiced support for the President\u2019s budgetary plan while criticizing NASA\u2019s political support. \u201cPeople should be relieved. It is important to separate comments from vested interests from people who cannot be swayed by any rational argument and believe that the answer has to be that funding continues in their district,\u201d said Musk. <br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; SpaceX said it will be ready to fly humans into space in three years for about $20 million a seat \u2014opening the door to America\u2019s future as a true space-faring nation. Alexander argued that the capabilities of commercial companies exceed NASA\u2019s ability to meet deadlines and cost requirements. \u201cCommercial crew will reduce the gap in U.S. human spaceflight by using launch vehicles that are either already flying today or are close to launch, such as the Atlas, Taurus and Falcon. To build orbital capsules for these existing launch vehicles is on a comparable level to the Gemini program in the 1960s, which required only about three years from contract signed to the first flight of a crew.\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Strong opposition to Obama\u2019s NASA program cuts, however, came from both sides of the aisle and from both houses of Congress. U.S. Appropriations Committee member Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said he was troubled by the termination of the Constellation program. \u201cThe sheer lack of details on the administration\u2019s plan is frustrating, and I am not satisfied that what the president is proposing to do with these funds is better than simply going forward with the Constellation Program, and I can understand why so many of us in Congress are up in arms. But the introduction of the president\u2019s budget is only the beginning of what will be a very lengthy budget process, and I will do everything in my power to ensure NASA and its 3,500 civil servants and contractors are not forgotten,\u201d Voinovich said in a statement.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Voinovich was joined by a number Democrats in voicing displeasure over the President\u2019s cuts to NASA. In a statement, Rep. Suzanne Komas (D-Fla.) said that constituents in her state were not happy. \u201cThe president\u2019s proposal lacks a bold vision for space exploration and begs for the type of leadership that he has described as critical for inspiring innovation for the 21st century.\u201d <br \/>\nU.S. House Science Committee Chairman Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) said that he needed to be convinced in order to approve the budget. \u201cMy position would be to continue with the existing program until he can demonstrate there is a better alternative. The burden of proof is on the president,\u201d said Gordon.<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Some commercial companies also joined the President\u2019s critics with their own concerns. <strong>ATK<\/strong>, one of NASA\u2019s major contracted manufacturers for the Constellation\u2019s Ares 1-X rocket, defended the program and vowed to fight the decision in a company statement, released Feb. 2. \u201cIt is not clear why at this time the nation would consider abandoning a program of such historic promise and capability \u2014 with so much invested. Ares is meeting all major milestones. The Ares 1launch vehicle is an innovative and now proven design with an overriding concern for crew safety,\u201d the company said. \u201cIn the weeks and months ahead, we are hopeful that the Congress and Administration will work together to deliver a budget that supports a program that capitalizes on the investments the nation has made in the Constellation program, closes the gap in U.S. capability to return to space and best assures continued U.S. leadership in space.\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), however, said that the political opposition may not be enough to change Constellation\u2019s fate. \u201cWhen the president says that he\u2019s going to cancel Constellation, I can tell you that to muster the votes, and to overcome that, is going to be very, very difficult. We should do this in cooperation, not in combat with the executive branch of government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[02-02-10] U.S. President Barack Obama\u2019s decision to cut NASA\u2019s manned Constellation lunar mission program and invest $6 billion in commercial launch companies to replace the retiring Space Shuttle has drawn sharp divisions between NASA and commercial industry supporters. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The U.S. Commercial Spaceflight Federation welcomed the President\u2019s decision, which was announced as part of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87547\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}