Panel Recommends Reducing NASA Role in Space Launches
Posted on: Monday, 14 June 2004, 06:00 CDT
By TED BRIDIS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A White House commission will recommend that NASA give private corporations a broader role in space launches - and a greater share of the financial burden - to ensure President Bush's goal of ultimately flying to Mars, according to documents obtained Monday.
NASA should overhaul its Apollo-era relationship with private industries and limit the space agency's involvement to areas "where there is irrefutable demonstration that only government can perform the proposed activity," according to a summary prepared by the president's commission. The summary was obtained by The Associated Press; the final report is expected later this week.
The commission's conclusions are aimed at easing the burden on taxpayers by increasingly commercializing the nation's space program.
The administration has been sensitive to questions about the enormous cost of such a plan, noting that NASA spending - which would remain largely unchanged - amounts to less than 1 percent of the overall federal budget. Some experts have said President Bush's goals could ultimately cost $1 trillion.
The commission determined that NASA should recognize "a far larger presence of private industry in space operations with the specific goal of allowing private industry to assume the primary role of providing services to NASA, and most immediately in accessing low-earth orbit."
Experts said that conclusion clearly signals intentions to hand over nearly all space launches - except manned missions - to private corporations.
"It carves out the launch of astronauts," said George T. Whitesides, head of the National Space Society, a non-profit group advocating space exploration. "I'm sure there will be a lot of debate about that over the coming weeks."
Bush created the President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy to help decide the best way to accomplish his new space vision, which includes resuming flights to the moon and Mars over the next few decades.
The commission will encourage NASA to "aggressively use its contactual authority" to foster new technologies and ideas, and it wants NASA to assess current launch technologies, which would be handed over to the private sector.
Bush in January asked for a $1 billion boost to NASA's budget over five years to fund the start of a new American campaign in space. Bush proposed establishing a lunar base within two decades and a manned landing on Mars sometime after 2030.
"Never let it be said that NASA tends to overestimate the cost of its missions," said Douglas Osheroff, a widely renowned physicist who investigated the February 2003 breakup of the shuttle Columbia. "The cost in present-day dollars ... I think it's going to be one trillion."
The conclusions by the White House commission were first disclosed by Space.com, an Internet news site for astronomy and space enthusiasts.
-----
On the Net:
More science, space, and technology from RedNova
Copyright © 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Related Articles
- NASA Wants Private Sector Help for Space
- NASA Aircraft Services Are Costly, Report Says
- Panel Says NASA Needs Private Help
- Sept. 11 Commission Hears Bush, Cheney
- Russian space agencies team up with business to conquer Mars
- Private money should fund moon-Mars mission, space supporters say
- Lost in space NASA remains clueless
- NASA Chief Defends Bush's Space Plans
- NASA rover set to touch down on Mars' rocky surface
- NASA rover appears to survive descent to Mars
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds