NASA's future from perspective of its head

William Atkins
Sunday, 03 July 2011 03:08

Opinion and Analysis

On the eve of ending one chapter of U.S. manned space exploration and the beginning of the next chapter, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden talked about the U.S. aeronautics and space agency's future.

The final space shuttle mission (STS-135) is scheduled to launch on Friday, July 8, 2011. As the United States ends this historic program of manned space exploration, it is currently developing its next generation of manned space vehicles and support instruments.

 

While at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Friday, July 1, 2011, Mr. Bolden talked about NASA's future endeavors during the speech. He stated the following:

'Some say that our final shuttle mission will mark the end of America's 50 years of dominance in human spaceflight; as a former astronaut and the current NASA administrator, I'm here to tell you that American leadership in space will continue for at least the next half-century because we have laid the foundation for success - and failure is not an option."

"President Obama has given us a Mission with a capital "M" -- to focus again on the big picture of exploration and the crucial research and development that will be required for us to move beyond low Earth orbit. He's charged us with carrying out the inspiring missions only NASA can do that will take us farther than we've ever been. To orbit Mars and eventually land on it. He's asked us to start planning a mission to an asteroid."

"The president is asking us to harness that American spirit of innovation, the drive to solve problems and create capabilities that is so embedded in our story and has led us to the moon, to great observatories, and to humans living and working in space, possibly indefinitely. That American ingenuity is alive and well, and it will fire up our economy and help us create and win the future now."

"So when I hear people say -- or listen to media reports -- that the final Shuttle flight marks the end of U.S. human spaceflight, I have to say . . . these folks must be living on another planet."

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