Obama Plans To Address Vision For NASA In April
The White House said on Sunday that President Barack Obama plans to outline his administration’s vision for NASA, along with an eventual trip to Mars, during a conference in Florida in April.
According to Reuters, Obama is in need of reconciliation to defend his commitment to the space agency after submitting his budget to Congress, which cancelled a program to return U.S. astronauts to the moon.
He said he would like to refocus NASA efforts on technologies to prepare for human missions to destinations within the solar system.
Obama’s budget would spend $6 billion over five years on technology and development and extending the life of the International Space Station, as well as making the transition for commercial companies to taxi astronauts to space.
"After years of underinvestment in new technology and unrealistic budgeting, the President’s plan will unveil an ambitious plan for NASA that sets the agency on a reinvigorated path of space exploration," the White House said in a statement.
It said the investment in new technology would "help us travel from the Earth’s cradle to our nearby Solar System neighborhood in a more effective and affordable way, thus laying the foundation to support journeys to the Moon, asteroids, and eventually to Mars."
The conference is expected to take place on April 15.
"The conference will focus on the goals and strategies in this new vision, the next steps, and the new technologies, new jobs, and new industries it will create," it said. "Conference topics will include the implications of the new strategy for Florida, the nation, and our ultimate activities in space."
Florida is considered a political "swing" state that has switched support between Democrats and Republicans in presidential elections over the year. The state backed Obama in the 2008 election.
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