Next Stop Star Trek: Obama Considers Combining Civilian and Military Space Programs

Demian McLean, writing at Bloomberg.com reports that "President-elect Barack Obama will probably tear down long-standing barriers between the U.S.’s civilian and military space programs to speed up a mission to the moon amid the prospect of a new space race with China. Obama’s transition team is considering a collaboration between the Defense Department and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration because military rockets may be cheaper and ready sooner than the space agency’s planned launch vehicle, which isn’t slated to fly until 2015, according to people who’ve discussed the idea with the Obama team." The considered charge comes with increased U.S. concerns over China's increasing military capabilities in space, witnessed by it's 2007 destruction of a satellite in orbit by a missile launched from China. In addition, the combining of civilian and military space capabilities could make the U.S. space program more efficient in terms of budgetary matters and in the creation and use of similar launch vehicles. "Obama has said the Pentagon’s space program -- which spent about $22 billion in fiscal year 2008, almost a third more than NASA’s budget -- could be tapped to speed the civilian agency toward its goals as the recession pressures federal spending." Such a move would end the development of the Ares I rocket and shift manned missions to the military's already existing Delta IV and Atlas V rockets. Another concern for the Americans is that as it stands now a new space race has taken shape between the Chinese and the Americans - and we are losing. China could land astronauts on the moon several years ahead of the U.S.

NASA's Troubled Path for Manned Missions to the Moon and Mars Faces Uncertain Future

JOHN SCHWARTZ reports in the New York Times that NASA's attempts "to replace the nation’s aging space shuttles" with a newly designed and never flown rocket system known as the Ares I rocket and the space craft known as the Orion is proving to be technically difficult, expensive and politically vexing. "The issues have become a focus of the members of the presidential transition team dealing with NASA, and the space program could undergo a transformation after Barack Obama takes office." Another significant problem regards the transition from the current space shuttle fleet to the new rocket and space capsule system. There is the definite possibility that there will be a five year long window between the retirement of the shuttle systems and the completion and launch of Ares I and Orion. During this estimated five year period, the United States will not have the ability to put humans into space. The U.S. would have to rely on other nations; Russia being most often mentioned, to get our astronauts to the International Space Station. This situation has caused a great deal of concern among many Americans and alternative means for U.S. controlled missions into space using current Atlas and Delta rockets are being hastily discussed. In addition: "Pressure has grown to keep the shuttles flying. In July, former Senator John Glenn of Ohio said in testimony before the House Science and Technology Committee that he favored flying the shuttles until the Constellation craft were ready to fly" explains Mr. Schwartz. Glenn also remarked at the hearing that: “I never thought I would see the day when the world’s richest, most powerful, most accomplished spacefaring nation would have to buy tickets from Russia to get up to our station,.." Mr. Schwartz further explains similar views expressed by the Obama team Assessing NASA: "Continuing shuttle flights has also been proposed by the New Democracy Project, a group with strong ties to John D. Podesta, a co-chairman of the Obama transition team.” The most pressing question asks; which path into space in the near term and over the long range of years will the United States decide upon?