But worries about its cost may stifle Bush's plans :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: But worries about its cost may stifle Bush's plans

Posted by admin on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 - 01:27 AM

Today's 35th anniversary of the Apollo 11 astronauts' moon landing coincides with President Bush's ambition to get America back to the moon and beyond.
And while a new poll suggests support for Bush's moon and Mars space exploration initiative, some experts say the appeal of the nation's space program has changed since 600 million people watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon July 20, 1969. The Apollo missions were driven by Cold War fears that Russia would get there first. Bush's plan to make the moon a stepping stone to Mars attempts to reinvigorate NASA in the wake of the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster. Without a crisis of the Cold War's magnitude, Bush will find it difficult to find the political and financial support to make it back to the moon, said space historian William Burrows. "Everybody knows (Apollo) was a great propaganda victory as well as a great feat of exploration. It's gone now," said Burrows, director of science and environmental journalism at New York University. Still, results of a Gallup poll released Monday indicate nearly seven in 10 Americans support Bush's moon and Mars initiative — as long as NASA receives no more than 1 percent of the annual federal budget, just above current levels. The survey is the most exhaustive public assessment on space exploration since Bush outlined his strategy Jan. 14, said Jim Banke, a spokesman for the Coalition for Space Exploration. "The fundamental problem is the deficit and the lack of a huge constituency," Burrows said.

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