Obama Wants Manned Mission To Mars

Echoing John F. Kennedy's historic challenge to the nation to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's, President Obama called on NASA scientists and engineers to launch a manned mission to Mars within three decades.

"By the mid-2030's, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth," said Obama. "A landing on Mars will follow," he added.

Obama's words were part of an address the President gave Thursday at Florida's Kennedy Space Center designed to rally NASA and the country behind a controversial White House plan.

The plan would terminate the space shuttle program by year's end, outsource launches to private contractors, and cancel major portions of a project that would have returned humans to the moon by 2020.

Obama said NASA will get more bang for its buck under his vision, and noted that that the space agency is in line for a $6 billion funding increase over the next five years under his proposed federal budget.

"Nobody is more committed to manned space flight than I am," the President said.

Obama said NASA should focus on conquering new frontiers instead of revisiting places, like the lunar surface, where astronauts have already set foot.

"By 2025 we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first ever missions beyond the moon into deep space," Obama said. Such journeys, the President argued, would pave the way for missions to Mars.

Obama's plan also calls for the construction of an advanced space telescope to replace the aging Hubble, a $3 billion investment in new, heavy-lift rockets, and the building of a new space capsule.

The capsule could be used as an escape vehicle if astronauts need to depart the International Space Station in an emergency, Obama said.The latter would build on existing research into the construction of the Orion crew capsule, which would have delivered humans to the moon in tandem with the Ares rocket under a program championed by the Bush administration.

Obama's new plan essentially kills the Ares.

The President also wants the space agency to focus more on developing green technologies that he said would improve life on Earth.

"We will increase Earth-based observations to improve our understanding of our climate and our world, science that will garner tangible benefits helping us to protect our environment for future generations," Obama said.

Obama's NASA strategy has drawn flack from numerous critics, including lawmakers from both sides of the Congressional aisle and some former astronauts, who claim it will compromise America's position in the space race, make the country dependent on foreign governments for transportation to the ISS, and kill jobs in Florida and other states that contribute to NASA-related research, development, and construction.

But Obama insisted his plan would put the U.S. in the forefront of space exploration in the long term. He also claimed his program would create 2,500 new jobs along the so-called Space Coast over the next two years and 10,000 new jobs nationwide "over the next few years."

Obama also pledged $40 million for a study into how best to compensate for Florida jobs lost due to the shuttle's cancellation. The president, whose speech was broadcast live on cable news networks, said he wanted the study "on my desk by August 15th."