Leadership, Vision, and Space Exploration

NASA chief on new space strategy, Achenblog, Washington Post
“Q. Is Obama going to offer any sweeteners when he goes to central Florida [for April 15 space conference]? The fact that the President is taking time to visit Florida to discuss the future of America’s space program demonstrates his commitment to NASA, and our robust exploration vision. I think people will see firsthand what I see – his passionate commitment to a bold future in space which is at the heart of the decision to add an additional $6 billion to NASA’s budget.”
Unused NASA tower epitomizes brewing fight over space budget, The Hill
“Our greatest accomplishment in human space flight were gained because President Kennedy said we will land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth by the end of this decade,” Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) said in February. “President Kennedy didn’t say, ‘We’re going to spend a few billion dollars on some really unique research and development.'”
Imagination may be casualty of loss of space program, Deseret News
“Five years ago, I wrote in favor of privatizing the space program, mainly because of costs. I was wrong. The race to the moon never was a competition to see whether capitalism or communism was superior. The U.S. space program was just as dependent on the public treasury as was the Soviets’. It was, rather, a matter of pride and national security. Maybe we’ve lost that vision because our chief enemies these days, fanatical Middle Eastern terrorists, don’t have a space program. But the price of becoming “a second-rate space country” is just as unthinkable as it was 40 years ago.”