Friday's first hour guest, Richard Hoagland of Enterprise Mission(1), joined us from his homebase in New Mexico to discuss why he thinks the Mars initiative is losing momentum. He suggested that it's not because of lack of enthusiasm from Captitol Hill; rather, it seems to be "great reservations about NASA's ability to carry it out." He continued, "The NASA we currently have is kind of in limbo in terms of can it do the job."
As further proof of just how out of touch NASA has become, Hoagland cited NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's recent idea to kill the extremely successful Hubble Telescope program. Hoagland called for NASA to be reorganized into a much larger agency, and the creation of a cabinet level position called the Department of the Exterior, which could oversee both the technical aspects of space travel and, more importantly, involve the American people in the program.

1. http://www.enterprisemission.com

Mars or Bust?

In a recent editorial(1), Robert Roy Britt of Space.com(2) warns that the Moon-to-Mars program announced by President Bush could be doomed before it's begun. According to Britt, "NASA plans to spend most of the [$866 million budget] increase on existing human spaceflight programs." Spending money on shuttle fixes and the International Space Station is necessary, but to reach Mars Britt says, "a tremendous public relations effort is needed to sell it to the American people and, especially, to Congress." Read more Space.com(3).

1. http://www.space.com/news/commentary_vision_040429.html
2. http://www.space.com/
3. http://www.space.com/news/commentary_vision_040429.html

Bumper Music

Bumper music from Friday April 30, 2004