One week before the U.S. elections, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is blasting President George W. Bush’s space exploration vision as a “purely political stunt” that threatens to gut other NASA programs.
Kerry and his running mate Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) promised to pursue “a more balanced space and aeronautics program” that treats human and robotic exploration as “one goal among several.” The Democrats also promised to put a greater emphasis on aeronautics research, a NASA responsibility since the agency’s creation but one that has been on the decline since well before Bush took office.
+ Read Article (Space.com)
Editor's Note: Despite the promise to increase NASA's budget if elected, I'm going to have to agree with some of your comments that the Kerry campaign's space policy lacks support for the Vision for Space Exploration.
I tend to agree with the science focus they articulate, but they seem to lose sight of the fact that leaving Earth orbit is long overdue and is an urgent priority for America, lest other nations beat us to the task.
Posted by jburk at October 26, 2024 11:52 PM | TrackBackText of S.1290, Responsible Deficit Reduction Act of 1995, introduced in 1995 by Sen. John Kerry:
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=14357
A few things Kerry proposed, these are direct quotes from the bill he introduced:
Terminate the National Aerospace Plane Program.
Terminate NASA's support for producers of commercial airlines.
Terminate the International Space Station Program.
Terminate the High-Temperature Gas Reactor Program, also known as the Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor.
Phase in over five years a reduction of 25 percent of fiscal year 1995 appropriations for research and development programs for fossil, nuclear, and fusion energy.
I find the "Terminate NASA's support for producers of commercial airlines" very interesting since he now claims he will restore NASA aeronautical research. Another quote, this time from John Kerry's Presidential bid website: "The Kerry-Edwards administration would reverse the decline in the priority given to aeronautics"
Posted by: Dogsbd at October 29, 2024 07:52 PM