Air of uncertainty in space industry
As space shuttle Atlantis prepares to launch, President Obama has yet to name a permanent NASA Administrator. That's causing uncertainty in the space industry. Jeremy Hobson reports.
The sun sets behind the space shuttle Atlantis on at Kennedy Space Center in Fla. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)
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BILL RADKE: Space shuttle Atlantis is set to launch today at Cape Canaveral. The mission is to boldly go work on the Hubble Telescope. President Obama's hand-picked NASA Administrator will not be on hand for the launch, because President Obama has yet to name a permanent NASA Administrator. As Marketplace's Jeremy Hobson tells us, that is sending uncertainty through the space industry.
JEREMY HOBSON: Someone has to decide soon what to do about the space shuttle. NASA's been using the shuttle since 1981, and it's retiring it next year. But its replacement isn't ready yet. That could mean layoffs in Republican Congressman Bill Posey's Florida district.
BILL POSEY: The initial forecast is about 3,500 jobs.
And Posey knows what it's like to be one of those people. He was laid off from NASA after working on Apollo in the late 60s. He says if the U.S. wants to remain a high tech leader, it needs a well-led space program.
POSEY: From the cell phones with the genesis in space to the laptops to the GPS to the weather satellites, the president has said he wants half our GDP to be based on high tech, and there's no more high tech, there's no more cutting edge than there is in space.
The space industry may not get clarity anytime soon. The president's science adviser has just asked for an independent review of NASA's operations. The report is due in August.
I'm Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.
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From Silver Spring, MD, 05/12/2009
Regarding the alleged "waste of money" that is space exploration: the federal budget for FY 2010 is $3.55 trillion. NASA's share is $18.7 billion, which is slightly more than one-half of one percent of the total budget. Cutting NASA's budget to shore up our economy would definitely be a case of being "penny wise and pound foolish". Getting the heck out of Iraq ($144 billion a year) would be a much better way of saving money, especially seeing that NASA serves useful purposes and being in Iraq doesn't.
As far as "we're never going to explore space", well, if we were to cut NASA's budget, then yes, obviously we'd never explore space. That's called a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Besides which, space exploration *is* necessary. It's important for us as a species to continue striving to learn new things about the world around us. That's what moves us forward. If we never pushed ourselves to expand our knowledge and understanding, we'd all still be sitting in caves picking fleas out of each other's fur.
From NC, 05/11/2009
How 'bout a complete rethinking of NASA's purpose? We're never going to explore space, so let's quit wasting money on that. Let (a smaller) NASA work on satellites (such as GPS) that help us here and now. Other stuff is not needed.
From ARLINGTON, VA, 05/11/2009
SORRY ABOUT THE SPACE PROGRAM..... BUT AT THIS TIME WE HAVE OTHER BIG BUDGET ITEMS FOR OUR TAX DOLLARS....IN SOME CASES IT IS JUST MERE SURVIVAL FOR OUR UNEMPLOYED..
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