Obama modifies space policy position
Posted: Tue, Aug 5, 2008, 8:00 AM ET (1200 GMT)
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama retracted an earlier proposal to delay NASA's Constellation program by five years Saturday, saying that he would work instead to close the Shuttle-Constellation gap. Obama, speaking in Titusville, Florida, said he would consider flying at least one more shuttle flight after 2010, the current retirement date for the fleet, but did not specify what else he would do to close the gap. Obama also proposed re-establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Council, an advisory committee that has been defunct since 1993. Obama's policy had been criticized by space advocates since the publication of an education policy paper in November 2007, which included a one-line reference to a five-year Constellation delay to help pay for his proposed education programs. In recent months, though, Obama has suggested that he supported continued development of Ares 1 and Orion, the two major initial programs of the overall Constellation system.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama retracted an earlier proposal to delay NASA's Constellation program by five years Saturday, saying that he would work instead to close the Shuttle-Constellation gap. Obama, speaking in Titusville, Florida, said he would consider flying at least one more shuttle flight after 2010, the current retirement date for the fleet, but did not specify what else he would do to close the gap. Obama also proposed re-establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Council, an advisory committee that has been defunct since 1993. Obama's policy had been criticized by space advocates since the publication of an education policy paper in November 2007, which included a one-line reference to a five-year Constellation delay to help pay for his proposed education programs. In recent months, though, Obama has suggested that he supported continued development of Ares 1 and Orion, the two major initial programs of the overall Constellation system.
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