The Vision at Five Years

Five years ago today, President Bush announced the Vision for Space Exploration, the initiative to return to the Moon and eventually go beyond. Rand Simberg assesses the current situation and future prospects in this article.

But Mike Griffin’s departure, and even the end of his vehicle designs, doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the Vision for Space Exploration. The two are not synonymous, though many supporters of the current plans would like people to think they are. The vision isn’t about any specific vehicle concept, or even any specific destination, even though many talk about it as the "Moon program," or the "Mars program." Regardless of implementation, it was never any more - or any less - than establishing a national goal, for the first time since Apollo, to once again send humans beyond low earth orbit. All else is simply details. There are many ways to do it, and perhaps the new administration and administrator will be more imaginative in doing it in an affordable way that permits much more activity, instead of redoing what we did forty years ago. The money currently being spent on redundant dedicated launch vehicles for the space agency could finally be invested in actual space exploration hardware, such as earth departure stages, lunar landers, and even propellant depots, and leave the earth-to-orbit task to private enterprise.

Meanwhile, speculation continues about the choice of the incoming Obama Administration for NASA Administrator. Space.com reports they have the name, but it has not yet been confirmed by other sources.