The Future of Space Exploration

President Obama outlined his strategy for NASA on April 15 at the Kennedy Space Center. While he proposes to spend an additional $6 billion over the next five years, he has also discontinued the Constellation Program, which was meant to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, noting the program was less important, over budget, and behind schedule.

So what will the additional funds be spent on? The President sees us going deeper into space, and staying there longer. He said this new plan will actually send more astronauts into space over the next ten years than previously planned. He even expects us to be orbiting Mars by the mid-2030s with a landing on the red planet not much farther into the future.

With the Constellation Program being cancelled, and the space shuttle fleet being retired at the end of 2010, the only way that Americans will be able to get into space is aboard the Russian Soyuz capsules. Commercial vehicles are an option, but it will be years before they are ready.

Some famous astronauts expressed their concerns about this new proposal. They wrote a letter saying “the USA is far too likely to be on a long downhill slide to mediocrity,” and that the cancellation of the Constellation Program is “devastating”.

Created in 1958, NASA is an important part of American history as well as its future. NASA’s vision is “To understand and protect our home planet, to explore the Universe and search for life, and to inspire the next generation of explorers...as only NASA can.” Whatever your opinions are on the changes, it’s sure to be an exciting ride as we continue to learn more about the Universe, and it turn, learn even more about ourselves.