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Glenn warns commission against cutting space station research

Posted on: Thursday, 4 March 2004, 06:00 CST

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Former astronaut John Glenn told a presidential commission on future space exploration that cutting funding for international space station research would be a mistake.

Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, spoke Thursday on the second day of hearings before a commission studying President George W. Bush's proposal for manned flights to the moon and Mars.

The Bush administration has said future U.S. research projects on the station would focus on helping achieve the moon and Mars missions.

Glenn, a former senator from Ohio, said U.S. experiments in the low gravity of space have produced ``some of the most unique, cutting-edge research in the history of the whole world.''

The research has been used to improve medicines and increase the production of rice, providing Congress examples of tangible results of space funding to justify future spending, Glenn said.

Eliminating that kind of research would enable other nations to fill the void and benefit from new technologies, Glenn said.

``I just don't think that's right,'' he said.

Space exploration and research go hand in hand, Glenn said.

``I think you should do both,'' he said. ``I don't think you cut out one to do the other.''

Launching a mission to Mars from the moon, as Bush suggested, may not be less expensive than taking off from Earth, Glenn said. A moon launch would take dozens of missions from Earth to assemble equipment and staff.

``I would question very seriously whether it is cheaper,'' Glenn said.

The Dayton hearing at the U.S. Air Force Museum is the second of five being held around the country as the President's Commission on Moon, Mars and Beyond prepares a report to be presented to Bush in June.

Earlier Thursday, Air Force generals told the commission that the military plays an important role in U.S. space exploration and should continue to partner with NASA.

The generals defended the military's role in space exploration when commissioner Carleton Fiorina asked why the military is involved.

``Although we would like space to be a peaceful medium, the fact of the matter is history says that it may not always be that way,'' said Martin, commander of the Air Force Materiel Command. ``We should be prepared for that.''

The military helps conduct space-related research projects, and Gen. Gregory Martin said military equipment in space helps prevent conflicts on Earth. For example, military satellites can detect buildups of armies on the ground.

Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf of the Air Force Space Command said excluding the military from U.S. space efforts would decrease the chances of detecting and heading off conflicts on Earth and increase the likelihood that a U.S. response to an attack would be less precise and more destructive.

``That's in nobody's interest -- not ours, not our adversaries,'' Leaf said. ``We don't want to wage war in space. There is a peaceful place for the military to participate in space.''

During the public-comment period, Lyle Kelly, a retired engineer and head of the Ohio chapter of the Mars Society, told the commission capturing the public's attention is the way to keep the space-exploration effort alive.

Kelly urged the commission to set simple goals, keep costs low by building off existing technologies and consider space tourism.

``The more we can do to get the public physically engaged personally in space, the better off we'll be,'' he said.

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On the Net:

Moon-Mars Commission: http://www.moontomars.org/

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