[meteorite-list] NASA Administrator Discusses Agency's Future Endeavors

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2011 21:36:09 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201107040436.p644a936007034_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

July 1, 2011

David S. Weaver
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
david.s.weaver at nasa.gov

RELEASE: 11-218

NASA ADMINISTRATOR DISCUSSES AGENCY'S FUTURE ENDEAVORS

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden delivered a speech
Friday about the agency's future. Below are excerpts from his speech
at the National Press Club in Washington.

"Some say that our final shuttle mission will mark the end of
America's 50 years of dominance in human spaceflight; as a former
astronaut and the current NASA administrator, I'm here to tell you
that American leadership in space will continue for at least the next
half-century because we have laid the foundation for success - and
failure is not an option."

"President Obama has given us a Mission with a capital "M" -- to focus
again on the big picture of exploration and the crucial research and
development that will be required for us to move beyond low Earth
orbit. He's charged us with carrying out the inspiring missions only
NASA can do that will take us farther than we've ever been. To orbit
Mars and eventually land on it. He's asked us to start planning a
mission to an asteroid."

"The president is asking us to harness that American spirit of
innovation, the drive to solve problems and create capabilities that
is so embedded in our story and has led us to the moon, to great
observatories, and to humans living and working in space, possibly
indefinitely. That American ingenuity is alive and well, and it will
fire up our economy and help us create and win the future now."

"So when I hear people say -- or listen to media reports -- that the
final Shuttle flight marks the end of U.S. human spaceflight, I have
to say . . . these folks must be living on another planet."

"We are not ending human space flight, we are recommitting ourselves
to it and taking the necessary -- and difficult -- steps today to
ensure America's pre-eminence in human spaceflight for years to
come."

"We have to get out of the business of owning and operating low-Earth
orbit transportation systems and hand that off to the private sector,
with sufficient oversight to ensure the safety of our astronauts.
American companies and their spacecraft should send our astronauts to
the ISS, rather than continuing to outsource this work to foreign
governments."

"Our destinations for humans beyond Earth remain ambitious. They
include: the moon, asteroids, and Mars. The debate is not if we will
explore, but how we'll do it."

"The International Space Station is the centerpiece of our human space
flight for the coming decade. Every research investigation and all of
the systems that keep the ISS operational help us figure out how to
explore farther from our planet and improve life here."

"I made a decision to base the new multi-purpose crew vehicle, or MPCV
- our deep space crew module -- on the original work we've done on
the Orion capsule. We're nearing a decision on the heavy lift rocket,
the Space Launch System, or SLS, and will announce that soon."

"Our partners in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Service
program, SpaceX and Orbital, continue to meet milestones. The new
participants in the second round of our Commercial Crew Development
Program have just met their first set of milestones required by
NASA."

"In addition to this space flight progress, we have a huge number of
amazing science missions coming up. We'll advance aeronautics
research to create a safer, more environmentally friendly and
efficient air travel network."

"NASA is moving the ball down the field, because the status quo is no
longer what we need. President Obama has outlined an urgent national
need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build our competitors and
create new capabilities that will take us farther into the solar
system and help us learn even more about our place in it. NASA is
ready for this grand challenge."

Administrator Bolden's entire speech is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/news/speeches/admin/index.html

For more information about NASA's future endeavors, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/next
        
-end-
Received on Mon 04 Jul 2011 12:36:09 AM PDT