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John Kerry Mum on Plans for NASA and the Space Program

Posted on: Tuesday, 27 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

By MIKE BRANOM

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- With a famed astronaut at his side and majestic rockets towering outside the window, John Kerry spoke Monday of how America's space program embodies the imagination, ingenuity and fortitude that made the country great.

Yet the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, during a town hall meeting at Kennedy Space Center, didn't once mention NASA, the federal agency that makes those rockets fly. Instead, Kerry used space to direct the focus on his platform's planks: the economy, education, health care and national security.

"John Kennedy, in 1962, said we're (going to the moon) not because it's easy but because it's hard, and that's the American spirit," said Kerry, accompanied by the first American in orbit, former Ohio senator John Glenn. "I'm here today, the first day of the Democratic convention, because there is no better place to launch something than right here."

While NASA may have a big budget and controls a high-profile symbol of the nation's might, its future isn't getting much attention from either candidate.

Kerry doesn't talk about space on the campaign trail. And while President Bush announced in January a bold proposal that would resume human flights to the moon and eventually to Mars, he almost immediately dropped the subject - even neglecting to mention it days later in his State of the Union address.

Without the space program, Americans would have to do without so much they take for granted, such as better telephone service and watching live events televised from remote parts of the globe. The military uses satellites to both guide bombs and help soldiers communicate, giving U.S. forces a huge advantage over their foes.

But Anthony Duignan-Cabrera, managing editor for Space.com, a Web site covering space exploration, space science, astronomy and policy issues, noted NASA's accomplishments no longer have the public's interest. Without that attention, there's little reason for the candidates to mention space.

"They don't want to get in trouble spending the taxpayers' money on something (taxpayers) don't understand but reap the benefits from," Duignan-Cabrera said.

There are compelling issues, Duignan-Cabrera added, such as China's first forays into space. He noted there is speculation Bush's Mars announcement actually was a message from the administration's hawks they are closely watching developments from the world's space-faring nation.

Earlier this year, Bush's moon to Mars proposal received lukewarm support from Kerry, who praised its spirit and scientific research possibilities - if the price isn't too high.

"Given the Bush budget deficit, it is imperative that we balance funding for a manned mission to Mars against critical domestic needs as well, such as education and health care," Kerry told The Associated Press.

Glenn, who flew on Friendship 7 in 1962 and the space shuttle Discovery in 1998, criticized Bush's plan as misguided.

"What they're saying now is, the only basic science we're going to do with the new Mars project is that which is applicable to going to the moon and on to Mars. We've been doing a lot of fine science that we want to continue to do on the (international space) station when it is completed."

Kerry and Glenn, with Florida Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, later visited NASA's facilities, touring the shuttle Discovery - the orbiter that Glenn flew on in his return to space several years ago.

Discovery is being readied for a March launch, which would be NASA's first shuttle mission since the Columbia accident on Feb. 1, 2003. Kerry said that he would come to see the launch if he's elected President.

Bush's support of NASA took a blow by his own party last week. A Republican-run House subcommittee voted to cut the agency's budget by 7 percent to $15.1 billion next year - $229 million below this year and $1.1 billion less than what the president wanted.

Coincidentally, the cuts came on the 35th anniversary of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong's first human steps on the moon.

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