Re: Barack Obama Publishes His Space Policy

On Jan 11, 5:54 am, "Mark R. Whittington" <mwhitti...@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Senator Barack Obama has published a comprehensive space policy that
is conspicuous in what it does not mention as in what it does.
Unfortunately it constitutes a return to the 1990s during which
astronauts flew in circles in low Earth orbit and commercial space was
ignored.

Instead of abandoning manned space entirely, he proposes building the
part of what GWB proposed that would replace the Shuttle.

He proposes unmanned exploration of the outer solar system - because
it yields knowledge much more cheaply than manned exploration.

I would like to see a more ambitious space policy, one aimed at
beginning the exploitation of lunar materials for space construction,
and one including manned exploration of Mars, but I really think that
the space policy proposed by Obama is probably what we'll get, barring
very unusual events, from almost any other candidate, Democratic or
Republican.

*Maybe* some Republican candidates will instead support the Bush plan
100% and stick with it.

Maybe instead of waiting for Ares 1, it might be practical to build a
brand-new Shuttle or two in the meantime, and retire the existing
Shuttles before they become manifestly unsafe.

But more likely to me would be a space policy that is indeed back to
the 1980s - Obama's space policy *minus* any intent to do more than
grudgingly fund a very few unmanned science missions. So, while I
don't generally think that Barack Obama's chances of becoming
President are that good, and while I would like an ambitious space
policy, I find his proposals to be on the plus side of what we're
likely to get in real life.

John Savard
.

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