With all of the discussion about future U.S. efforts in human spaceflight precipitated by final flight of the space shuttle, too little attention has been given to how international cooperation might factor into that future...
There is a certain sense of unreality as I sit this morning at the Kennedy Space Center press site, with Atlantis on the launch pad just over three miles away awaiting its last mission (STS 135), NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver finishing a briefing on NASA's ambitious plans for the future, a hundred enthusiastic young people from all over the country gathered for a "Tweetup" to communicate their impressions of being at a launch—while in Washington, D.C., the House Appropriations Committee apparently is intending today to cut almost $2 billion from NASA's budget...
In 1961 President John F. Kennedy made the goal to be first on the moon a matter of national honor. But were the Soviets truly in the running?
For the next decade the U.S. has to rely on the shuttle and existing expendable launchers to get into space. Before launchers for the 21 st century are developed, space-program goals should be established...
