the decades long program. so what's next for nasa? joining us now, former al policy low 7 astronaut, walter cunningham. it's an honor to have you join us on the program. we're also marking the 50th anniversary on monday of president kennedy's historic call to send a man to the moon. it's amaze to go think what it meant. what impact did it have on you? >> in many ways it shaped my life from that time on. i wish we had the kind of enthusiasm for the space program today as you just heard at that conference. >> uma: we've come a long way since that day, that 15-minute space ride on mercury with alan shepherd on board. are you concerned, then, that there is really no major nasa space program gearing up for further manned space exploration at this time? >> well, i'm really quite concerned. nasa in many ways has been kind of sliding downhill since the