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Obama Releases Official Space Policy; Mars Society Calls On All Candidates To Do The Same
Last week, Senator Barack Obama became only the second presidential candidate to release a formal space policy (Senator Hillary Clinton released her policy during the autumn of 2007).
Mars Society Political Director Meets Sen. Barack Obama at a New Hampshire campaign event in November
In this policy statement, Obama states that NASA "has embodied the
adventurous spirit that lifted this nation to greatness and inspired
people around the world." He believes that the United States "needs a
strong space program to help maintain its superiority not only in
space, but also here on earth in the realms of education, technology,
and national security."
While this statement is absolutely correct, the Obama policy lacks most of the key elements necessary to enable NASA to become a true catalyst of education and innovation once again, as it was during the Apollo era.
Obama calls for development of the next generation of space vehicles, completion of the International Space Station, continuation of unmanned missions, monitoring the forces and effects of climate change, supporting scientific research, maintaining surveillance to strengthen national security, keeping weapons out of space, and strengthening math and science education.
In addition to there being no mention of returning to the Moon or going to Mars, this policy lays out NO vision for human space flight beyond the International Space Station (ISS). This extremely limited role for humans in space is only justified by its beneficial impact on international relations.
We are not going to inspire education or innovation by doing the same thing we have been doing for over thirty years - going around in circles in Low Earth Orbit. The reason that NASA was able to inspire students to study science and engineering in the 1960s was because NASA set an ambitious goal and devoted the resourses necessary to achieve that goal. If the next president of the United States commits to returning to the Moon and then sending humans to Mars at a far more accelerated time frame than is currently planned, we will capture the attention of the nation and create that inspirational catalyst of which Senator Obama speaks.
Obama also states that, "Robotic missions provide a level of endurance and cost-effectiveness that is unsurpassed." The Mars Society strongly supports ambitious robotic missions to Mars and other destinations in the Solar System (and beyond), but we fear that the Obama policy would favor robotic missions even when human explorers would be more effective. While rovers like Spirit and Opportunity have done a miraculous job, a small team of human explorers would be able to cover more territory and collect more scientific data in a day or two than both rovers have in several years. There is no question that robotic exploration is vital, but it needs to be integrated with a comprehensive and well-defined human exploration program.
In addition, while education and innovation are important byproducts of an ambitious space program, there are many other compelling reasons to explore space - not the least of which is exploration and discovery. By sending humans to the Moon and Mars, we will be reaching for potentially profound scientific discoveries; we will learn the potential for long-term settlement and resource utilization; and we will better understand our own environment.
If we don't pursue this type of destination oriented program, other nations certainly will. No matter how slowly nations like China, India, and Russia seem to be moving, it is almost certain that they will move ahead of us in space technology and exploration in the next decade if we fail to move forward. This would put us in a terrible disadvantage
The Mars Society applauds the Obama campaign for releasing a space policy, but as the election process continues, we hope that he will revise and expand this policy. It would be a true gift to the nation and humanity if the next President of the United States were to create a space program that can truly inspire and propel our nation forward.
The Mars Society calls on ALL candidates for the Presidency of the United States to make strong statements in support of an acceleration of NASA's Moon-Mars goals — not a slowdown. Space exploration should not be a partisan issue. We hope that all of the candidates realize the importance of the space program — to our nation as well as all of humanity. A strong space program can be one of the greatest assets to science and engineering education in the nation, and will help guarantee our technological leadership in the 21st century.
We are asking all members of The Mars Society, and the space advocacy community as a whole, to contact the presidential candidates and tell them why human exploration of Mars is of vital importance to the United States of America and well worth the investment.
The Mars Society will help you in this process.
How?
Send a candidate a fax today!
To make the process easier for you, The Mars Society is now offering a program that allows you to write a fax online that will be automatically sent to the Presidential candidates (this program also allows you to fax your members of Congress). How can you access fax program?
1.Go to http://fax.marssociety.org
2.Fill in your name and address and then write your letter. The fax generator will automatically send faxes to the candidates or your United States Senators and Representative. It will also provide the proper heading to the fax. You do not need to add a heading.
3.If you have any problems getting the fax generator to work, contact Alex Kirk at alex@marssociety.org.
While this statement is absolutely correct, the Obama policy lacks most of the key elements necessary to enable NASA to become a true catalyst of education and innovation once again, as it was during the Apollo era.
Obama calls for development of the next generation of space vehicles, completion of the International Space Station, continuation of unmanned missions, monitoring the forces and effects of climate change, supporting scientific research, maintaining surveillance to strengthen national security, keeping weapons out of space, and strengthening math and science education.
In addition to there being no mention of returning to the Moon or going to Mars, this policy lays out NO vision for human space flight beyond the International Space Station (ISS). This extremely limited role for humans in space is only justified by its beneficial impact on international relations.
We are not going to inspire education or innovation by doing the same thing we have been doing for over thirty years - going around in circles in Low Earth Orbit. The reason that NASA was able to inspire students to study science and engineering in the 1960s was because NASA set an ambitious goal and devoted the resourses necessary to achieve that goal. If the next president of the United States commits to returning to the Moon and then sending humans to Mars at a far more accelerated time frame than is currently planned, we will capture the attention of the nation and create that inspirational catalyst of which Senator Obama speaks.
Obama also states that, "Robotic missions provide a level of endurance and cost-effectiveness that is unsurpassed." The Mars Society strongly supports ambitious robotic missions to Mars and other destinations in the Solar System (and beyond), but we fear that the Obama policy would favor robotic missions even when human explorers would be more effective. While rovers like Spirit and Opportunity have done a miraculous job, a small team of human explorers would be able to cover more territory and collect more scientific data in a day or two than both rovers have in several years. There is no question that robotic exploration is vital, but it needs to be integrated with a comprehensive and well-defined human exploration program.
In addition, while education and innovation are important byproducts of an ambitious space program, there are many other compelling reasons to explore space - not the least of which is exploration and discovery. By sending humans to the Moon and Mars, we will be reaching for potentially profound scientific discoveries; we will learn the potential for long-term settlement and resource utilization; and we will better understand our own environment.
If we don't pursue this type of destination oriented program, other nations certainly will. No matter how slowly nations like China, India, and Russia seem to be moving, it is almost certain that they will move ahead of us in space technology and exploration in the next decade if we fail to move forward. This would put us in a terrible disadvantage
The Mars Society applauds the Obama campaign for releasing a space policy, but as the election process continues, we hope that he will revise and expand this policy. It would be a true gift to the nation and humanity if the next President of the United States were to create a space program that can truly inspire and propel our nation forward.
The Mars Society calls on ALL candidates for the Presidency of the United States to make strong statements in support of an acceleration of NASA's Moon-Mars goals — not a slowdown. Space exploration should not be a partisan issue. We hope that all of the candidates realize the importance of the space program — to our nation as well as all of humanity. A strong space program can be one of the greatest assets to science and engineering education in the nation, and will help guarantee our technological leadership in the 21st century.
We are asking all members of The Mars Society, and the space advocacy community as a whole, to contact the presidential candidates and tell them why human exploration of Mars is of vital importance to the United States of America and well worth the investment.
The Mars Society will help you in this process.
How?
Send a candidate a fax today!
To make the process easier for you, The Mars Society is now offering a program that allows you to write a fax online that will be automatically sent to the Presidential candidates (this program also allows you to fax your members of Congress). How can you access fax program?
1.Go to http://fax.marssociety.org
2.Fill in your name and address and then write your letter. The fax generator will automatically send faxes to the candidates or your United States Senators and Representative. It will also provide the proper heading to the fax. You do not need to add a heading.
3.If you have any problems getting the fax generator to work, contact Alex Kirk at alex@marssociety.org.
