Page 12 - Constellation Program News Today

>> the other specific in here, the constellation program, it was behind schedule, it was overbudget. was it right to essentially abandon it and does that mean we are going to give up hope for, say, the millennium for returning to the moon? >> i dont think so at all. if you look at the program, lets ask the american taxpayer what would they prefer. would they prefer that we throw dollars away, throw good money after bad in a program that really could be retrofitted to do better work for us? or is...

Into space. thanks so much for joining me. >> youre welcome. >> where do you stand on this debate? >> well, i think where we are right now is that we have a shuttle program that is retiring, but we have to have a robust space program. and that robust space program is really supported, empowered, by our research and development, by allowing nasa to do the kind of work that nasa does really well, which is to do -- develop new propulsion systems, to look at how do we move forward? so when i think a...

Use the word undefined. everything in that budget is undefined. there is no focus. >> the white house says that the just cancelled constellation program was way behind schedule and was unworkable. they hope that their plan leaps past the moon on to the moons of mars and eventually to mars itself. many big names in the space game, shep, are asking questions. are these goals too loosely defined? are they too far in the future? and have, perhaps, we given our rivals the chance to become the dominan...

Subcontractor for the federal government, theres not a case model for the commercial rockets. >> did we lose you, congressman? >> no, im still here. >> im sorry. we had a little audio glitch there. let me ask you this, lets talk about the constellation program. obviously, it wasnt this president who ended the shuttle program and want to refocus, but the constellation program, youve got billions of dollars spent, many say was underfunded, wasnt feasible, and there needed to be some reassessment t...

Tough infrastructure in mission control, simulators, the training. it doesnt make sense to me. >> bret: president obama at the kennedy space center announcing increase in the nasa budget but also saying the constellation program in place will be canceled. to do that, that costs $2 billion. where are we in the space program? and what the president is talking about? were back with the panel. charles? >> we are seeing the abolition of the manned space program. when neil armstrong speaks out, that i...

Am. we have to do it in a smart way. >> reporter: to visit asteroids and eventually land on mars by 2035 or so, the president believes nasa should begin development on heavy lift rocket technologies, build an orion space capsule for the space station and support space taxis like one he looked at today. in the meantime we hitch expensive ride with russians to the space station. it has supports like buzz aldrin the second man to set foot on the moon. he felt the constellation program was too much ...

To leave. in just about 30 minutes president obama will leave for florida. the presidents remarks according to the white house have been revised to say the plan will actually create jobs which has been one of the criticisms even before weve all heard the presidents speech. nbcs tom kos sell lcostello is the kennedy space center. you have been great in pointing out there have been many levels of conversation, the workers, the constellation program, whatever it is, the president has a tough sell...

The atlantic ocean. im sure theres one in the pacific, too. we begin with president obamas call, however, for the most significant change in u.s. space policy since nasa was created some 50 years ago at cape canaveral today, the president urged congress to approve a plan to shift some responsibility for sending u.s. astronauts into space from nasa to private companies. >> by buying the services of space transportation, rather than the vehicles themselves, we will also ak sccelerate the pacf inno...

But here are the very quick highlights. the shuttle program will be retired this year. thats not the presidents plan. thats been the plan for years. the russians will carry astronauts to the space station for the next five years. again, thats been the plan for years. the plan then was to go with a new rocket program called constellation. however, an outside panel that the obama administration brought in concluded that that program, constellation, had been dramatically underfunded. and by the way...

They were canceling the constellation bram that wcon s l constellation program that was going to be the program. the president is coming down here today in about 4 1/2 hours and to restate this policy and the changes of what it was a few months ago. they are going to decide in the next few years on a heavy-lift vehicle that will take humans to perhaps mars to asteroids. theyre going to do a downsized capsule that is going to be used in case thats ever needed. theyre going to pour $40 million int...