Presidents have made a number of space-related statements over the years that inspired the Nation:President Kennedy (1961): We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. -- President John F. Kennedy's May 25, 1961 Speech before a Joint Session of Congress (see story here)
President George H. W. Bush (1990): We stand at a halfway point. . . . Thirty years ago, NASA was founded and the space race began. And 30 years from now, I believe man will stand on another planet. -- President George H.W. Bush in a commencement address at Texas A&I University. Looking beyond the travails of a national budget crisis, President Bush outlined a timetable for human exploration of Mars, calling for an American flag to be planted on the surface of the red planet no later than the year 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing (see story here)
President George W. Bush (2004): Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea. We choose to explore space because doing so improves our lives and lifts our national spirit. -- President George W. Bush, in a speech at NASA headquarters, unveiled an ambitious plan to return Americans to the moon by 2020 and use the mission as a steppingstone for future manned trips to Mars and beyond (see story here).
President Obama (2010): No quote to date on latest policy. However, last month, the Administration announced plans to redirect America's space program by eliminating NASA's $100-billion plans to return astronauts to the moon and using much of that money for new rocket technology research (see story here).
So there we have it. First we reach the moon, then we reach for Mars, then we look closer to home and go back to the moon, and finally we throw in the towel and refuse to provide any particular destination. In a time of great economic turmoil, Americans should still be able to dream. So much for hope.
