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Flying on Empty? - Bay Area

A centerpiece of this community - a driver of our economic vitality and a source of pride worldwide for its tremendous accomplishments in space exploration - is the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). Indeed, JSC has been a fixture in our community for so long and our nation's human space flight program has contributed so much to advance the cause of science and discovery that it is hard to consider life without either of them as a healthy, integral part of the Clear Lake Area.

That is why the Houston Chronicle editorial, "Flying on empty ... Without more money, the U.S. manned space program is going nowhere fast", is so disturbing and serves as a wake-up call for our Chamber members to become better informed and more engaged in determining the future of JSC and America's space exploration program.

As you probably know, President Obama appointed a special panel - generally referred to as "The Augustine Committee" - to review NASA's plans for human space flight as they have been implemented since President Bush announced The Vision for Space Exploration in 2004. The Committee is expected to report a set of options at the end of this month, followed by decisions by the President and Congress in September concerning the future of space exploration. The long-term consequences of those decisions could be dramatic in terms of their impact on JSC and our community.

Early indications are that without more investment in NASA (we currently spend about one half of 1% of the federal budget to cover the entire scope of NASA's space, science and aeronautical research programs - as compared to 4-to-5% during the Apollo era), America will have no future in human space exploration. Here is an excerpt from the Chronicle editorial:

"According to commission chairman Norman Augustine ... 'Our view is that it will be difficult with the current budget to do anything that's terribly inspiring in the human space flight area.' Panel member and former astronaut Sally Ride concurred. 'So far, we haven't found a scenario that includes exploration that's viable.'"

That's a sobering assessment, as is the Chronicle's concluding warning:

"Without a long-term commitment to boost the inadequate NASA budget, the U.S. will find itself sitting on the sidelines, its manned space program on hold while China pursues plans to send missions beyond low Earth orbit."

The good news is none of this is inevitable. Fifty years ago, America established NASA to lead us in the realm of space exploration, and forty years ago we celebrated the historical achievement of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth. We chose to do so and we invested the resources to make it happen. We are no less technically capable today and the resources required to succeed are a fraction of what it took to accomplish Apollo. It's all about choices.

As your Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, we strongly and without reservation endorse this closing statement from the Chronicle editorial:

"Manned space exploration is a potent technological and economic stimulus as well as a key aspect of national security. Even in these troubled financial times, it is an investment we can't afford not to make."

Sincerely,

Cindy Harreld
President & CEO
Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
 
 

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