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NASA Needs Mars and Venus Manned Mission, Say Robert Weiner and Zoe Pagonis as Man-On-Moon 40th Anniversary Approaches; 'NASA's Not Dreaming Far Enough' Orlando Sentinel Op-Ed

Posted on: Monday, 6 July 2009, 06:54 CDT

WASHINGTON and ORLANDO, Fla., July 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the July 20 fortieth anniversary of earthlings' first moon landing approaches, former White House Spokesman Bob Weiner and Policy Analyst Zoe Pagonis urge NASA, "Focus on the dream of traveling to other planets and reverse NASA's satisfaction with the mundane."

In an op-ed column in today's Orlando Sentinel, "NASA's Not Dreaming far Enough," Weiner and Pagonis assert, "The news for NASA now is a pale comparison to 1969, when two Americans first stepped on the moon."

"Forty years later, we have to ask, what happened to man and woman on Mars and Venus? By now we thought we'd even reach Pluto. Yet after a few repeat moon missions, we just stopped leaving earth."

"Claiming that commuter shuttles to a space station close-in and use of robots afar are all we can do, when we saw that's nonsense with our own eyes, is no longer acceptable. Man on the Moon was the most profound scientific achievement of our lifetimes -- and was too long ago."

"Even the pilot of Apollo 11 and second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, recently agreed, asserting, 'Instead of a stepping stone to Mars, NASA's current lunar plan is a detour.'"

"President Obama told shuttle Atlantis astronauts, 'It is a high priority of mine to restore that sense of wonder that space can provide.'"

According to Weiner and Pagonis, "Returning to the moon is no longer wonder. We already did that forty years ago; the wonder is gone."

"When our supply of everything from oil to food to water is in peril, shouldn't we be exploring the virtually limitless resources of other planets to see if there are compounds that might be useful beyond our wildest dreams?"

"The Russians do have a plan, Mars 500, just as they did in 1957 when they launched Sputnik and placed Yuri Gagarin in orbit. They jumped a light-year ahead of the USA in the space race. It took us a decade to catch up. Hopefully we won't have to repeat this. We need a get-there mentality with a time frame," Weiner and Pagonis conclude.

Original article: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edpedp-weiner-nasa-venus-070609070609jul06,0,2254530.story

Contact: Bob Weiner/Zoe Pagonis 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700

SOURCE Robert Weiner Associates

Source: PR Newswire

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