David Mindell, the Frances and David Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing and director of MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society, said that Bolden’s defense of Obama’s proposal wasn’t surprising, given that it’s his job to do so. “But the proposal does recommend a fresh approach that, though risky, could reinvigorate human spaceflight in the U.S. and restart research — at MIT and many other places — that had been sacrificed for the Constellation program,” he said.
NASA chief defends Obama
That is the plan of Alliant Techsystems of Minneapolis — the aerospace company more commonly known as ATK, which manufacturers the solid rocket motors for NASA’s space shuttles — and Astrium, a European company that builds Ariane 5 rockets, which are used to launch satellites. The two will announce on Tuesday what is essentially a commercial version of the Ares I, the expensive NASA rocket that Congress and the Obama administration canceled last year.
The Ares I, part of a bloated NASA program to send astronauts back to the moon, could become a success story in the Obama administrationÂ’s effort to shape a more affordable space program with the help of the private sector. NASAÂ’s so-called commercial crew program is seeking companies to build and operate space taxis to take astronauts to the International Space Station.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/business/global/08rocket.html?src=busln
Buzz Aldrin: Steps Taken Following Obama's Direction "Will Best Position NASA And Other Space Agencies To Send Humans To Mars." From astronaut Buzz Aldrin's statement on Obama's NASA plan:
Krauthammer Falsely Claims Obama "Killed NASA's Manned Space Program" | Media Matters for America