Green, a
Democrat, represents the 29th Congressional District of Texas;
Culberson, a Republican, represents the 7th District.
It was a starry summer night some 41 years ago when a small,
odd-looking vehicle landed in the Tranquilitatis Basin on the face of
the moon. Approximately 250,000 miles from Earth the Eagle had landed,
and with it the hopes and dreams of the human race were carried to new
heights.
Today the
United States manned space program lies in deep peril as our ability to
reach destinations such as the moon, Mars and beyond continues to slip
to indefinite timetables. If Congress accepts the president's budget
proposal on NASA's Constellation program — a program that enjoys
bipartisan support — Constellation will be eliminated from the
federal budget, effectively ending the era of American leadership in
space. The manned space program has preserved our leadership in space
exploration for nearly five decades. It has also sparked the
technological and scientific advancements that have kept America
competitive in the global economy. Canceling the manned space program
puts our security and prosperity at risk.
The arguments
for maintaining the Constellation program are simple. First, it will
cost at least $2.5 billion just to shut down Constellation within NASA,
and this figure does not include the unknown cost to contractors. It is
senseless to cancel a tested and proven system in hopes that a
nonexistent industry will emerge and someday achieve the same feat of
carrying humans to space. Second, the Russians are charging us more
than $50 million per seat to access low-earth orbit, a bill that
taxpayers will have to foot for our own astronauts as well as provide
crew access for our European and Japanese allies to whom we are
obligated by International Space Station partnership agreements.
Finally, with no replacement to the shuttle and the subsequent Russian
monopoly on human access to space, there will be nothing to stop the
Russians from raising our costs when it comes time for our countries to
renegotiate the rate they will charge us.
Apollo
Astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, recently
remarked, “History demonstrates that the evolution of technology is
subject to a need — a challenge, a crisis or a combination thereof,
such as Apollo, WWII, or energy independence. First comes the mission,
then comes the development of technology to accomplish the established
goals.†Without a mission and a destination, the technology will not
develop and the billions of tax dollars we have invested in the program
will die on the proverbial vine.
Constellation
is our only hope to close the current five-year gap in U.S. access to
space, and closing the gap is the key to capturing the passion, support
and enthusiasm of the next generation the same way President Kennedy's
space race captured ours. NASA's manned space program has created a
class of citizen heroes unlike any the world has known. Only in America
can children of no means grow up to be the Columbuses and the Magellans
of our time, funded not by the gold and gems of monarchs, but by a
democracy committed to the daring and unending pursuit of knowledge.
This unique
aspect of our history is now in danger of becoming a footnote. Shutting
down Constellation sends the dangerous and irresponsible message to our
children and grandchildren that education and progress no longer
matter. As members of Congress, Texans, and most importantly fathers,
we urge the president to consider the effect this decision will have on
future generations.
