Will the Moon Feature in U.S. White House Vision for Human Spaceflight?
There is much speculation in Washington DC lately about whether or not the Bush Administration is going to make a major announcement / commitment regarding the future of America’s space program. Some have suggested that the Moon may indeed be the focus of an announcement to be made by President Bush as early as 17 December — the 100th anniversary of the Wright brother’s flight. Others are more pessimistic; “There are those that expect little more than a promissory note about future NASA space goals — pushing off any commitment to fork up tough-to-find dollars,” writes Leonard David in Space.com. Some people, such as space writer Greg Klerkx, don’t want to leave it all up to NASA. “Could NASA send humans anywhere beyond Earth within a reasonably engaging timeframe … and within a budget that wouldn’t leave taxpayers howling (and force) the government to scrap the idea altogether?” asks Klerkx. His solution? Privatize! Buzz Aldrin says that NASA needs to cultivate the long-view of hum
