Americans in Space: A Dream of the Past?
U.S. Reps. GENE GREEN and JOHN CULBERSON
Published 5:30 am, Thursday, April 15, 2010
It was a starry summer night some 41 years ago when a small, odd-looking vehicle landed in the Tranquilitatis Basin on the face of the moon. Approximately 250,000 miles from Earth the Eagle had landed, and with it the hopes and dreams of the human race were carried to new heights.Today the United States manned space program lies in deep peril as our ability to reach destinations such as the moon, Mars and beyond continues to slip to indefinite timetables. If Congress accepts the president's budget proposal on NASA's Constellation program  -  a program that enjoys bipartisan support  -  Constellation will be eliminated from the federal budget, effectively ending the era of American leadership in space. The manned space program has preserved our leadership in space exploration for nearly five decades. It has also sparked the technological and scientific advancements that have kept America competitive in the global economy. Canceling the manned space program puts our security and prosperity at risk.The arguments for maintaining the Constellation program are simple. First, it will cost at least $2.5 billion just to shut down Constellation within NASA, and this figure does not include the unknown cost to contractors. It is senseless to cancel a tested and proven system in hopes that a nonexistent industry will emerge and someday achieve the same feat of carrying humans to space. Second, the Russians are charging us more than $50 million per seat to access low-earth orbit, a bill that taxpayers will have to foot for our own astronauts as well as provide crew access for our European and Japanese allies to whom we are obligated by International Space Station partnership agreements. Finally, with no replacement to the shuttle and the subsequent Russian monopoly on human access to space, there will be nothing to stop the Russians from raising our costs when it comes time for our countries to renegotiate the rate they will charge us.Apollo Astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, recently remarked, "History demonstrates that the evolution of technology is subject to a need  -  a challenge, a crisis or a combination thereof, such as Apollo, WWII, or energy independence. First comes the mission, then comes the development of technology to accomplish the established goals." Without a mission and a destination, the technology will not develop and the billions of tax dollars we have invested in the program will die on the proverbial vine.Constellation is our only hope to close the current five-year gap in U.S. access to space, and closing the gap is the key to capturing the passion, support and enthusiasm of the next generation the same way President Kennedy's space race captured ours. NASA's manned space program has created a class of citizen heroes unlike any the world has known. Only in America can children of no means grow up to be the Columbuses and the Magellans of our time, funded not by the gold and gems of monarchs, but by a democracy committed to the daring and unending pursuit of knowledge.This unique aspect of our history is now in danger of becoming a footnote. Shutting down Constellation sends the dangerous and irresponsible message to our children and grandchildren that education and progress no longer matter. As members of Congress, Texans, and most importantly fathers, we urge the president to consider the effect this decision will have on future generations.Green, a Democrat, represents the 29th Congressional District of Texas; Culberson, a Republican, represents the 7th District.