Space Shuttle Retiring – So What’s Next Mr. President?

July 7, 2011 at 7:55 am | Posted in Miscellaneous, Regular Feature, Science News | 1 Comment
Tags: atlantis, Mars, nasa, space shuttle

This week for Science Thursday we get some suggestions from the Commander In Chief as to the direction the space program should take now that the NASA Space Shuttle program will be retired after the completion of STS-135 which is due to launch aboard the Shuttle Atlantis on Friday July 8TH, weather permitting (which it is looking like it won’t).

In a “Twitter Town Hall” meeting, a user going by the name “Ron” asked the President, “Where does America stand in space exploration?”

It would seem it is a topic the President has spent some time considering as his answer was concise. I was pleased to hear that the President feels we not only need to focus our attention on Mars but also on other breakthroughs in propulsion and exploration. While the President didn’t come right out and say it, he implies what a lot of people in and around the space program have been feeling for a long time, which is that lighting a fire under a giant trash can to spit people and equipment off the planet is an idea that’s time has passed. We need to re-think how we are to travel the heavens and it starts with a healthy R&D effort right here on the ground.

Well, I don’t want to read too much into the President’s comments so I’ll post the video of the portion of the Town Hall meeting in which he addressed this important issue and leave you to draw your own conclusions. The video is courtesy of the folks who do such great work at my favorite site, Space.com.

So there you have it. The President says, “Let’s go to Mars”. I agree with him 100%. What say you?

by Revmacd For Roqoo Depot – All The Latest Star Wars News and real space news too.