To the Editor:

Last month President Obama released his proposed budget for next year.

That budget essentially did away with America’s human space exploration

program. The response to the President’s proposal was swift and loud.

I even challenged him to a debate in hopes of establishing a meaningful

dialogue about the national benefits of maintaining our position as the

world leader in space exploration.

President Obama then came to Florida and announced what he called a

“bold new vision” for our nation’s space program. While his revised proposal will save some of the jobs that will otherwise be lost when the Space Shuttle is retired – calling his announcement “bold,” or using the word “vision” to describe the proposal, is a stretch.

It does appear that our “push back” to the President’s initial budget

proposal was at least partially successful. An increased investment to

upgrade the Kennedy Space Center is a good start. Funding to retrain

displaced KSC workers is also a positive for Florida, as is an increased

role for Florida in NASA’s research and development efforts.

However, it appears that the President still fails to grasp just how important our space program is to our position in the world as an economic and military superpower. The President’s plan to increase NASA’s budget by $6 billion over five years would appear to be a step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, the promise of additional money without a more specific mission for the space program, and a specific time table to accomplish that mission, is more of the same old Washington mindset of throwing taxpayer money at the problem and hoping it goes away.

If we really want to be “bold” we must embrace the concept of the Constellation Program – we should go back to the moon in preparation for an even bigger goal – going to Mars. We have a lot of work to do if we are going to develop the technology necessary to put astronauts on Mars.

That is why the idea is bold – because we don’t have the ability to achieve such a mission today. The same was true when President Kennedy issued his challenge to put a man on the moon by the end of the 60s.

It was his challenge teamed with a defined mission and specific timeline that made it a bold idea. If the President wants to change the name of the program to put his “stamp” on the mission so be it. But to Mars we must go.

Over the last three year we have spent considerable time, money andeffort planning for an expansion of commercial space opportunities for Florida. We are grateful that the President’s latest proposal embraces and supports those efforts. There is an important role for the private sector to play in space particularly with respect to delivering payloads

to the International Space Station.

It is unrealistic to expect the private sector to take on the costs and the risks of human space exploration when recognizing a profit in such an operation may not come for 50 years – if ever. If our nation is truly going to maintain its position as the world leader in space we must again be bold. To Mars by 2020 – issue the challenge Mr. President – it will bring out the best in all of us.

Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp

Chairman of Space Florida

Tallahassee