President's Budget Request Jeopardizes Return To The Moon

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden held a news conference Monday to outline the agency's budget for fiscal year 2011, in which the President zeroed out the Constellation and Ares programs which had been intended to return men to the moon.

"President Obama today has given us a bold challenge -- to become an engine of innovation, and the catalyst for an ambitious new space program that includes and inspires people around the world," Bolden said in his opening remarks.  "With this budget and the steps it lays out, the United States and its partners in other nations, in industry, and in academia will pursue a more sustainable and affordable approach to spaceflight through the development of transformative technologies and systems."

"We will blaze a new trail of discovery and development. We will facilitate the growth of new commercial industries. And we will expand our understanding of the Earth, our solar system, and the universe beyond. To accomplish these objectives, the president has increased NASA's budget over the next five years by 6 billion dollars, an extraordinary show of support in these tough budgetary times."

Bolden (below, right) focused primarily on the positive aspects of the budget. "First, with this budget we are demonstrating our commitment to extend the life of the International Space Station, likely to 2020 or beyond," he said. "This will keep a commitment to our international partners and develop the full potential of this amazing orbiting laboratory where humans regularly do things we have never done before. NASA is on track to fly out the remaining Space Shuttle manifest of five flights, safely, and by the end of this calendar year. Within the week we'll be launching Endeavour to the International Space Station to deliver the Tranquility node, and a seven-windowed cupola that will be a control room for robotics and a new window on the world for the ISS astronauts."

"Next, the president has laid out a dynamic plan for NASA to invest in critical and transformative technologies. These will enable our path beyond low Earth orbit through development of new launch and space transportation technologies, nimble construction capabilities on orbit, and new operations capabilities. Imagine trips to Mars that take weeks instead of nearly a year; people fanning out across the inner solar system, exploring the Moon, asteroids and Mars nearly simultaneously in a steady stream of “firsts;” and imagine all of this being done collaboratively with nations around the world. That is what the President’s plan for NASA will enable, once we develop the new capabilities to make it a reality. NASA will accelerate and enhance its support for the commercial spaceflight industry to make travel to low Earth orbit and beyond more accessible and more affordable. Imagine enabling hundreds, even thousands of people to visit or live in low Earth orbit, while NASA firmly focuses its gaze on the cosmichorizon beyond Earth."

Bolden said the President is also deeply committed to NASA's vital programs to understand Earth, and has given the agency the means to increase its efforts to learn more about Earth's climate.

Bolden said the President's decision to scrap the Constellation Program was based on the report of the Augustine Commission. "They found that  Constellation key milestones were slipping, and that the program would not get us back to the moon in any reasonable time or within any affordable cost. Far more funding was needed to make our current approach work. The Augustine Committee estimated that the heavy lift rocket for getting to the moon would not be available until 2028 or 2030, and even then they found “there are insufficient funds to develop the lunar lander and lunar surface systems until well into the 2030s, if ever."

"And as we focused so much of our effort and funding on just getting to the Moon, we were neglecting investments in the key technologies that would be required to go beyond. So this budget cancels the Constellation Program, including the Ares I and V rockets and the Orion crew exploration vehicle. NASA intends to work with the Congress to make this transition smooth and effective, working responsibly on behalf of the Taxpayers. With my deepest gratitude, I commend the hard work and dedication that thousands of NASA and contractor workers have given to Constellation over the last few years. Their commitment has brought great value to the agency, and they will have a pivotal role to play in our future path. Many of the things we've learned will be critical as we move forward."

Bolden said NASA is going to start by using the International Space Station as the national lab that it was envisioned to be. "We will make full use of its incredible potential, and enhance our use of its research and development capabilities on-board.

Bolden said there area also new programs in the budget. He said NASA will partner with the aerospace industry in a fundamentally new way to provide astronaut transportation to the International Space Station. An enhanced U.S. commercial space industry will create new high-tech jobs and spin off other new businesses that will seek to take advantage of affordable access to space. "With today’s budget," Bolden said, "we are taking immediate steps to help launch this bold vision and the pioneers who will help make the plan a reality. Today we are using stimulus funds to help drive the beginnings of a commercial crew industry and the as many as 5,000 new jobs that industry suggests it can create. I am pleased to announce that NASA will award approximately $50M to further the commercial sector’s capability to support transport of crew to and from low Earth orbit."

Bolden said the President's budget also provides new investments in three new, vigorous technology development programs to expand the capabilities of future explorers. "We'll embark on this transformative technology initiative with our workforce partnering with the best in industry and academia and with our international partners. The first program, funded at $7.8 billion over five years, will invent and demonstrate large-scale, new and novel approaches to spaceflight such as in-orbit fuel depots and rendezvous and docking technologies, and closed-loop life support systems so that our future robotic and human exploration missions are both highly capable and more affordable."

At $3.1 billion over five years, an aggressive, new heavy lift research and development program will focus on development of new engines, propellants, materials and combustion processes, which Bolden said would ultimately lead to innovative ways of accessing space to go beyond low Earth orbit. The effect, he said, will be an increase in capabilities and significantly lower operations costs – "with the clear goal of taking us farther and faster into space." The budget also provides $4.9 billion over 5 years for a broad space technology program, including investments in very early stage and game-changing approaches, cross-cutting technologies such as communications, sensors and robotics, and a flight demonstration program for these game changing technologies.

The President’s budget provides $3 billion over five years for robotic exploration precursor missions that Bolden hopes will pave the way for later human exploration of the moon, Mars and nearby asteroids. Like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS missions last fall, future exploration precursor missions will expand on these successes, visiting more places in the inner solar system, with greater capabilities.

There is also funding for space science research grants and dozens of operating and planned missions to study the planets and stars. Bolden said he envisions sending a mission on the closest ever approach to the sun and enhancing our capability to detect and catalog near Earth objects that might pose a threat but can also help us understand the history of our solar system.

Bolden said the budget provides expanded opportunities in climate change and aeronautics. NASA's Earth science program has contributed greatly to our ability to understand climate change and its wide-ranging impacts. Over $2 billion in additional funds in this budget will accelerate the development of new missions to observe, from our highest vantage point, the Earth and its processes. In aeronautics, NASA will focus on technologies and applications to reduce aircraft fuel needs, noise, and emissions. These improvements to future air transportation will promote both the economic and environmental health of this country.

The final aspect of the budget, Bolden said, is a commitment to inspiring young people. "We want to ignite their passion for science and math, technology and engineering, professions that are critical now and will only grow more important in the future."

Bolden, an Obama appointee, said what the President has provided is a fundamental reinvigoration of the nation's exploration effort. "If we are going to have the technology and capabilities needed for tomorrow, we have to invest in them today. We must harness the nation's entrepreneurial energies to fulfill our needs for access to low Earth orbit and reap the benefits of enabling those new businesses."

FMI: www.nasa.gov