OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT
Dear President
Obama;
America is
faced with the near-simultaneous ending of the
Shuttle program and your recent budget proposal to
cancel the Constellation program. This is wrong for
our country for many reasons. We are very concerned
about America ceding its hard earned global
leadership in
space technology to
other nations. We are stunned that, in a time of
economic crisis,
this move will force
as many as 30,000
irreplaceable engineers and managers out of the
space industry. We see
our human exploration program,
one of the most inspirational tools to promote
science, technology, engineering and math to our
young people,
being reduced to mediocrity. NASA’s human space
program has inspired awe and wonder in all ages
by
pursuing the
American
tradition
of exploring the unknown. We strongly
urge you to drop this
misguided proposal that forces NASA out of human
space operations for the foreseeable future.
For those of us who have
accepted the risk and dedicated a portion of our
lives to the exploration of outer space, this is a
terrible decision. Our experiences were made
possible by the efforts of thousands who were
similarly
dedicated to the exploration
of the last frontier. Success
in this great national
adventure was
predicated on well defined programs, an unwavering
national commitment, and
an ambitious
challenge.
We understand there are risks involved in human
space flight, but they are calculated risks for
worthy goals,
whose benefits greatly
exceed those risks.
America’s
greatness lies
in her people: she will
always have men and women willing to ride rockets
into the heavens. America’s challenge is to match
their bravery and
acceptance of risk
with specific plans and goals worthy of
their
commitment. NASA must
continue at the
frontiers
of
human space
exploration
in order to develop the
technology and set the standards
of excellence
that will enable commercial
space ventures to eventually
succeed.
Canceling NASA’s human space
operations,
after 50 years
of unparalleled achievement, makes
that objective
impossible.
One of the greatest fears of
any generation is not leaving things better for the
young people of
the next.
In the area of human space flight,
we are about to realize that fear; your NASA
budget proposal raises more questions
about our future in
space than it answers.
Too many men and women have
worked too hard
and sacrificed too much to achieve America’s
preeminence in space, only to see that effort
needlessly thrown away. We urge you to demonstrate
the vision and determination necessary to keep our
nation at the forefront of human space exploration
with ambitious goals and the proper resources to see
them through. This is not the time to abandon the
promise of the space frontier for a
lack of will or an
unwillingness to pay the price.
Sincerely, in hopes of
continued American
leadership in human
space exploration.
Walter Cunningham
Apollo 7
Chris Kraft
Past Director JSC
Jack Lousma
Skylab 3, STS 3
Vance Brand
Apollo-Soyuz, STS-5,
STS-41B, STS-35
Bob Crippen
STS-1, STS-7,
STS-41C, STS-41G
Past Director KSC
Michael D. Griffin
Past NASA Administrator
Ed Gibson
Skylab 4
Jim Kennedy
Past Director KSC
Alan Bean
Apollo 12, Skylab 3
Alfred M. Worden
Apollo 15
Scott Carpenter
Mercury Astronaut
Glynn Lunney
Gemini-Apollo Flight Director
Jim McDivitt
Gemini 4, Apollo 9
Apollo Spacecraft Program Manager
Gene Kranz
Gemini-Apollo Flight Director
Past Director NASA Mission Ops.
Joe Kerwin
Skylab 2
Fred Haise
Apollo 13,
Shuttle Landing Tests
Gerald Carr
Skylab 4
Jim Lovell
Gemini 7, Gemini 12,
Apollo 8, Apollo 13
Jake Garn
STS-51D,
U.S. Senator
Charlie Duke
Apollo 16
Bruce McCandless
STS-41B, STS-31
Frank Borman
Gemini 7, Apollo 8
Paul Weitz
Skylab 2, STS-6
George Mueller
Past Associate Administrator
For Manned Space Flight
Harrison Schmitt
Apollo 17,
U.S. Senator
Gene Cernan
Gemini 9, Apollo 10,
Apollo 17
Dick Gordon
Gemini 11, Apollo 12
Bill Pogue
Skylab 4
