For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 14, 2004
President Bush Announces New Vision for Space Exploration Program
NASA Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
Fact Sheet
Renewed Spirit of Discovery
3:25 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm honored to be
with the men and women of NASA. I thank those of you who have come in
person. I welcome those who are listening by video. This agency, and
the dedicated professionals who serve it, have always reflected the
finest values of our country -- daring, discipline, ingenuity, and
unity in the pursuit of great goals.
America is proud of our space program. The risk takers and
visionaries of this agency have expanded human knowledge, have
revolutionized our understanding of the universe, and produced
technological advances that have benefited all of humanity.
Inspired by all that has come before, and guided by clear
objectives, today we set a new course for America's space program. We
will give NASA a new focus and vision for future exploration. We will
build new ships to carry man forward into the universe, to gain a new
foothold on the moon, and to prepare for new journeys to worlds beyond
our own.
I am comfortable in delegating these new goals to NASA, under the
leadership of Sean O'Keefe. He's doing an excellent job. (Applause.)
I appreciate Commander Mike Foale's introduction -- I'm sorry I
couldn't shake his hand. (Laughter.) Perhaps, Commissioner, you'll
bring him by -- Administrator, you'll bring him by the Oval Office when
he returns, so I can thank him in person.
I also know he is in space with his colleague, Alexander Kaleri,
who happens to be a Russian cosmonaut. I appreciate the joint efforts
of the Russians with our country to explore. I want to thank the
astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial entrepreneurs who
set such a wonderful example for the young of our country. (Applause.)
And we've got some veterans with us today. I appreciate the
astronauts of yesterday who are with us, as well, who inspired the
astronauts of today to serve our country. I appreciate so very much
the members of Congress being here. Tom DeLay is here, leading a House
delegation. Senator Nelson is here from the Senate. I am honored that
you all have come. I appreciate you're interested in the subject --
(laughter) -- it is a subject that's important to this administration,
it's a subject that's mighty important to the country and to the
world.
Two centuries ago, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left St.
Louis to explore the new lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.
They made that journey in the spirit of discovery, to learn the
potential of vast new territory, and to chart a way for others to
follow.
America has ventured forth into space for the same reasons. We
have undertaken space travel because the desire to explore and
understand is part of our character. And that quest has brought
tangible benefits that improve our lives in countless ways. The
exploration of space has led to advances in weather forecasting, in
communications, in computing, search and rescue technology, robotics,
and electronics. Our investment in space exploration helped to create
our satellite telecommunications network and the Global Positioning
System. Medical technologies that help prolong life -- such as the
imaging processing used in CAT scanners and MRI machines -- trace their
origins to technology engineered for the use in space.
Our current programs and vehicles for exploring space have brought
us far and they have served us well. The Space Shuttle has flown more
than a hundred missions. It has been used to conduct important
research and to increase the sum of human knowledge. Shuttle crews,
and the scientists and engineers who support them, have helped to build
the International Space Station.
Telescopes -- including those in space -- have revealed more than
100 planets in the last decade alone. Probes have shown us stunning
images of the rings of Saturn and the outer planets of our solar
system. Robotic explorers have found evidence of water -- a key
ingredient for life -- on Mars and on the moons of Jupiter. At this
very hour, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is searching for evidence
of life beyond the Earth.
Yet for all these successes, much remains for us to explore and to
learn. In the past 30 years, no human being has set foot on another
world, or ventured farther upward into space than 386 miles -- roughly
the distance from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts. America
has not developed a new vehicle to advance human exploration in space
in nearly a quarter century. It is time for America to take the next
steps.
Today I announce a new plan to explore space and extend a human
presence across our solar system. We will begin the effort quickly,
using existing programs and personnel. We'll make steady progress --
one mission, one voyage, one landing at a time.
Our first goal is to complete the International Space Station by
2010. We will finish what we have started, we will meet our
obligations to our 15 international partners on this project. We will
focus our future research aboard the station on the long-term effects
of space travel on human biology. The environment of space is hostile
to human beings. Radiation and weightlessness pose dangers to human
health, and we have much to learn about their long-term effects before
human crews can venture through the vast voids of space for months at a
time. Research on board the station and here on Earth will help us
better understand and overcome the obstacles that limit exploration.
Through these efforts we will develop the skills and techniques
necessary to sustain further space exploration.
To meet this goal, we will return the Space Shuttle to flight as
soon as possible, consistent with safety concerns and the
recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. The
Shuttle's chief purpose over the next several years will be to help
finish assembly of the International Space Station. In 2010, the Space
Shuttle -- after nearly 30 years of duty -- will be retired from
service.
Our second goal is to develop and test a new spacecraft, the Crew
Exploration Vehicle, by 2008, and to conduct the first manned mission
no later than 2014. The Crew Exploration Vehicle will be capable of
ferrying astronauts and scientists to the Space Station after the
shuttle is retired. But the main purpose of this spacecraft will be to
carry astronauts beyond our orbit to other worlds. This will be the
first spacecraft of its kind since the Apollo Command Module.
Our third goal is to return to the moon by 2020, as the launching
point for missions beyond. Beginning no later than 2008, we will send
a series of robotic missions to the lunar surface to research and
prepare for future human exploration. Using the Crew Exploration
Vehicle, we will undertake extended human missions to the moon as early
as 2015, with the goal of living and working there for increasingly
extended periods. Eugene Cernan, who is with us today -- the last man
to set foot on the lunar surface -- said this as he left: "We leave as
we came, and God willing as we shall return, with peace and hope for
all mankind." America will make those words come true. (Applause.)
Returning to the moon is an important step for our space program.
Establishing an extended human presence on the moon could vastly reduce
the costs of further space exploration, making possible ever more
ambitious missions. Lifting heavy spacecraft and fuel out of the
Earth's gravity is expensive. Spacecraft assembled and provisioned on
the moon could escape its far lower gravity using far less energy, and
thus, far less cost. Also, the moon is home to abundant resources.
Its soil contains raw materials that might be harvested and processed
into rocket fuel or breathable air. We can use our time on the moon to
develop and test new approaches and technologies and systems that will
allow us to function in other, more challenging environments. The moon
is a logical step toward further progress and achievement.
With the experience and knowledge gained on the moon, we will then
be ready to take the next steps of space exploration: human missions
to Mars and to worlds beyond. (Applause.) Robotic missions will serve
as trailblazers -- the advanced guard to the unknown. Probes, landers
and other vehicles of this kind continue to prove their worth, sending
spectacular images and vast amounts of data back to Earth. Yet the
human thirst for knowledge ultimately cannot be satisfied by even the
most vivid pictures, or the most detailed measurements. We need to see
and examine and touch for ourselves. And only human beings are capable
of adapting to the inevitable uncertainties posed by space travel.
As our knowledge improves, we'll develop new power generation
propulsion, life support, and other systems that can support more
distant travels. We do not know where this journey will end, yet we
know this: human beings are headed into the cosmos. (Applause.)
And along this journey we'll make many technological
breakthroughs. We don't know yet what those breakthroughs will be, but
we can be certain they'll come, and that our efforts will be repaid
many times over. We may discover resources on the moon or Mars that
will boggle the imagination, that will test our limits to dream. And
the fascination generated by further exploration will inspire our young
people to study math, and science, and engineering and create a new
generation of innovators and pioneers.
This will be a great and unifying mission for NASA, and we know
that you'll achieve it. I have directed Administrator O'Keefe to
review all of NASA's current space flight and exploration activities
and direct them toward the goals I have outlined. I will also form a
commission of private and public sector experts to advise on
implementing the vision that I've outlined today. This commission will
report to me within four months of its first meeting. I'm today naming
former Secretary of the Air Force, Pete Aldridge, to be the Chair of
the Commission. (Applause.) Thank you for being here today, Pete. He
has tremendous experience in the Department of Defense and the
aerospace industry. He is going to begin this important work right
away.
We'll invite other nations to share the challenges and
opportunities of this new era of discovery. The vision I outline today
is a journey, not a race, and I call on other nations to join us on
this journey, in a spirit of cooperation and friendship.
Achieving these goals requires a long-term commitment. NASA's
current five-year budget is $86 billion. Most of the funding we need
for the new endeavors will come from reallocating $11 billion within
that budget. We need some new resources, however. I will call upon
Congress to increase NASA's budget by roughly a billion dollars,
spread out over the next five years. This increase, along with
refocusing of our space agency, is a solid beginning to meet the
challenges and the goals we set today. It's only a beginning. Future
funding decisions will be guided by the progress we make in achieving
our goals.
We begin this venture knowing that space travel brings great
risks. The loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia was less than one year
ago. Since the beginning of our space program, America has lost 23
astronauts, and one astronaut from an allied nation -- men and women
who believed in their mission and accepted the dangers. As one family
member said, "The legacy of Columbia must carry on -- for the benefit
of our children and yours." The Columbia's crew did not turn away from
the challenge, and neither will we. (Applause.)
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. So let us continue the journey.
May God bless. (Applause.)
END 3:43 P.M. EST
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