Ohio Congressman and Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich today called for a tripling of NASA’s budget

Kucinich, co-sponsor of the Space Exploration Act of 2003, said the
current budget for NASA “is far from adequate. Our shuttle fleet is
based on 30-year old technology and this is only because of a lack of
funding. Although the shuttle program requires $4 billion a year to
operate, NASA has been forced to operate the shuttle with a budget of
only $3 billion a year.”

Kucinich issued a far-reaching statement on the importance of the space
program a day before he arrives in Florida Monday for two days of
campaigning. Additional funding for space exploration and new
technologies “is in our national interest,” he said.

A bold and sustained human space exploration initiative has the
potential to inspire a new generation of young people in the same way as
the Apollo program did, Kucinich said.

Completion of the International Space Station, he noted, has the
potential to engage the international community in peaceful cooperation
in space.

The space program also has a huge job-creating potential. “By working in
partnership with the private sector, NASA will lead the way in
developing new technologies in energy, materials, communication,
medicine, and propulsion. It will create the industries of the future
and new high-tech jobs.”

Those jobs, he added, will be located in cities and towns throughout the
United States. “By increasing the budget for space exploration, we are
putting Americans back to work in a visionary industry that has no
limits to creativity or imagination,” Kucinich said.

He also called for increased funding in training and education.
“Increasing the funding to NASA would be an empty gesture if we failed
to invest in the human capital of the aerospace industry. Only six of
every 100 American engineering students are training to pursue careers
in aerospace. This must change if we hope to restore our prominence in
space technology.”

The full text of Kucinich’s statement follows.

Dennis J. Kucinich: New Initiatives in Space Exploration (March 7, 2004)

As a member of the generation that came of age watching the first humans
soar into the outer reaches of our atmosphere, then to Earth orbit, and
then to the moon, I am keenly interested in continuing the peaceful
exploration of space.

The Space Exploration Act of 2003, which I cosponsored, restores a
vision for the United States human space flight program. It outlines a
series of incremental goals over the next 20 years that will facilitate
the scientific exploration of the solar system, aid in the search for
life elsewhere in the universe, and rekindle the spirit of discovery
that created this nation. These goals include the development of
reusable space craft that will be able to rendezvous with near-Earth
orbit asteroids, carry humans from lunar orbit to the surface of the
Moon and back, and carry humans from low Earth orbit to and from Martian
orbit. A human-tended habitation and research facility on the surface of
one of the moons of Mars is also among its goals.

The exploration of space is in our national interest for a number of
reasons.

* A bold and sustained human space exploration initiative has the
potential to inspire a new generation of young people in the same
way as the Apollo program did.

* Completion of the International Space Station has the potential to
engage the international community in peaceful cooperation in space.

* By working in partnership with the private sector, NASA will lead
the way in developing new technologies in energy, materials,
communication, medicine, and propulsion. It will create the
industries of the future and new high-tech jobs.

* The jobs created by a space program are located in cities and
towns throughout the United States. By increasing the budget for
space exploration, we are putting Americans back to work in a
visionary industry that has no limits to creativity or imagination.

I believe that one of the best investments we could make for the future
of America would be to triple the budget for NASA. The current budget
for NASA is far from adequate. Our shuttle fleet is based on 30-year old
technology only because of a lack of funding. Although the shuttle
program requires $4 billion a year to operate, NASA has been forced to
operate the shuttle with a budget of only $3 billion a year.

Increasing the funding to NASA would be an empty gesture if we failed to
invest in the human capital of the aerospace industry. Only six of every
100 American engineering students are training to pursue careers in
aerospace. This must change if we hope to restore our prominence in
space technology. Initiatives such as designing new spacecraft, new
propulsion systems, and planning international missions into space will
help to renew national interest in NASA and its programs.

Like hundreds of millions people worldwide, I stood in awe of the
remarkable pictures beaming back to earth from NASA’s Mars Rover,
Spirit. A Kucinich administration will promote a bold and sustained
human space flight initiative of scientific exploration that will build
on the amazing accomplishments we have already seen.

For information about the National campaign: http://www.kucinich.us

For Congressman Kucinich’s Schedule: http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.htm.

To schedule an interview with Kucinich or a spokesperson:
jonathans@kucinich.us

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11808 Lorain Avenue – Cleveland, OH 44111
216-889-2004 / 866-413-3664 (toll-free)

http://www.kucinich.us/electability.php

Many believed we would never get to the moon, or that even if we got
someone there we wouldn’t be able to bring him back alive. Some of the
optimists felt it might be possible, but that it would still take 20-30
years to do it. Others were so afraid of the Soviet Union that they could
think of little else.

The quote I vividly remember was what this old timer told me when I asked
him how they were able to get to the moon. He said it was all summed up in
a reply made by one of the NASA janitors when someone asked what he did for
a living. The janitor said in a very matter of fact way, “I’m working to
put a man on the moon.”