Mr. President, It's Time for One Small Step...Again

The scoop: America will choose its next president come November 2008. Will the U.S. space presence flourish or flop?

The U.S. manned space exploration program, the majestic effort that so proudly resulted in Americans being the first humans to walk on the moon in 1969, is now in dire condition. The next president will determine America's future in space: Will the United States continue to lead human spaceflight and exploration, or will we cede that leadership to others as we bumble past deadlines because of political and bureaucratic inertia?

But first: How did we get into this mess?

When President George W. Bush announced his Vision for Space Exploration in 2004, it included plans to finish the $25 billion-plus International Space Station (ISS) (but then retire it), and to put the space shuttle program to bed in 2010. At the same time, we were to build a new vehicle to take Americans back to the moon by 2020, then to Mars and beyond.

Unfortunately, however, no matching budget was provided to carry out that ambitious plan, much less on the announced schedule. NASA was left to rob Peter to pay Paul, revert to spacecraft designs right out of the 1960s, and put a happy face on it all or risk being viewed as "failing." In the words immortalized by Apollo Mission Control Director Gene Kranz, "failure is not an option" for NASA.

What needs to be done?

First, we need a reality check: NASA's $17 billion annual budget is likely not going to significantly increase. Missions and goals have to be reconsidered, with manageable targets and timetables established.

Second, we need to stop "starting over" with every big, new space exploration program and begin building on what we have rather than throwing it to the curb. The space shuttle, for example, was never intended to be a long-term answer to human spaceflight and is limited to low-Earth orbit, which in celestial terms is the driveway of Earth's neighborhood. But the hardware is now mature and, in fact, largely capable of fulfilling critical roles such as getting to the nearly complete ISS in the near future. Without the shuttle or a replacement that no one is willing to pay for, the United States will be forced to rely on other spacefaring nations (like our "friend" Russia). It's like building a deluxe condominium on an island, and then scrapping the only ferry that goes there — we can only hope to hitch rides with other tenants who happen to have a motorboat. And that's just plain silly.

Third, the United States — and this won't be a NASA decision, but a White House decision — must remember that space exploration is about more than space. It's about leadership. Space represents innovation, imagination, courage, daring, and indeed the future itself, not just to us, but to the other nations of this planet. The United States has a long and successful history of using cooperation on space activities to generate good will and demonstrate U.S. leadership. America must reinvigorate its willingness to bring both old and new partners with it on the adventure of space exploration, and to lead the way in rediscovering our common human destiny in the stars.

Dr. Joan Johnson-Freese is the chair of Department of National Security Studies at the Naval War College, Rhode Island, and is the author of numerous books and articles on space. She recently testified before Congress on the future of the human spaceflight program. The views expressed are the author's alone and do not represent the official position of the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, the U.S. government, or the Discovery Channel.

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