[meteorite-list] NASA Administrator Discusses Agency's Future Endeavors

[Ron Baalke]

July 1, 2011

David S. Weaver 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-1726 
david.s.weaver at nasa.gov 

RELEASE: 11-218

NASA ADMINISTRATOR DISCUSSES AGENCY'S FUTURE ENDEAVORS

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden delivered a speech 
Friday about the agency's future. Below are excerpts from his speech 
at the National Press Club in Washington. 

"Some say that our final shuttle mission will mark the end of 
America's 50 years of dominance in human spaceflight; as a former 
astronaut and the current NASA administrator, I'm here to tell you 
that American leadership in space will continue for at least the next 
half-century because we have laid the foundation for success - and 
failure is not an option." 

"President Obama has given us a Mission with a capital "M" -- to focus 
again on the big picture of exploration and the crucial research and 
development that will be required for us to move beyond low Earth 
orbit. He's charged us with carrying out the inspiring missions only 
NASA can do that will take us farther than we've ever been. To orbit 
Mars and eventually land on it. He's asked us to start planning a 
mission to an asteroid." 

"The president is asking us to harness that American spirit of 
innovation, the drive to solve problems and create capabilities that 
is so embedded in our story and has led us to the moon, to great 
observatories, and to humans living and working in space, possibly 
indefinitely. That American ingenuity is alive and well, and it will 
fire up our economy and help us create and win the future now." 

"So when I hear people say -- or listen to media reports -- that the 
final Shuttle flight marks the end of U.S. human spaceflight, I have 
to say . . . these folks must be living on another planet." 

"We are not ending human space flight, we are recommitting ourselves 
to it and taking the necessary -- and difficult -- steps today to 
ensure America's pre-eminence in human spaceflight for years to 
come."  

"We have to get out of the business of owning and operating low-Earth 
orbit transportation systems and hand that off to the private sector, 
with sufficient oversight to ensure the safety of our astronauts. 
American companies and their spacecraft should send our astronauts to 
the ISS, rather than continuing to outsource this work to foreign 
governments." 

"Our destinations for humans beyond Earth remain ambitious. They 
include: the moon, asteroids, and Mars. The debate is not if we will 
explore, but how we'll do it." 

"The International Space Station is the centerpiece of our human space 
flight for the coming decade. Every research investigation and all of 
the systems that keep the ISS operational help us figure out how to 
explore farther from our planet and improve life here." 

"I made a decision to base the new multi-purpose crew vehicle, or MPCV 
- our deep space crew module -- on the original work we've done on 
the Orion capsule. We're nearing a decision on the heavy lift rocket, 
the Space Launch System, or SLS, and will announce that soon." 

"Our partners in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Service 
program, SpaceX and Orbital, continue to meet milestones. The new 
participants in the second round of our Commercial Crew Development 
Program have just met their first set of milestones required by 
NASA." 

"In addition to this space flight progress, we have a huge number of 
amazing science missions coming up. We'll advance aeronautics 
research to create a safer, more environmentally friendly and 
efficient air travel network." 

"NASA is moving the ball down the field, because the status quo is no 
longer what we need. President Obama has outlined an urgent national 
need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build our competitors and 
create new capabilities that will take us farther into the solar 
system and help us learn even more about our place in it. NASA is 
ready for this grand challenge." 

Administrator Bolden's entire speech is available at: 

http://www.nasa.gov/news/speeches/admin/index.html 

For more information about NASA's future endeavors, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/next 
	
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