McCain bashes Obama on NASA

Obama is the great FLIP-FLOP, greater than 10x John Kerry..

McCain has effective witt. One would think Obama is 72, not Mccain.

You tell him. Give him hell, John!

The space program is useless.

Shut it down until we have a budget surplus.

McCain has effective witt. One would think Obama is 72, not Mccain.

The issue for both candidates to recognize is that NASA's plans for going to Mars are ridiculous to begin with. Current planning and budgeting forces NASA to abandon any U.S. launch capability to the ISS for too many years, relying on a partner (Russia) that is becoming more belligerent--and likely less reliable and trustworthy in the years to come--to be the sole-provider in manned launch services for nearly 5 years. Even once Constellation is online, logical stepping stones/proving grounds to Mars, like going to a near-Earth asteroid, are ignored.

If either candidate wants to have a long-term view and demonstrated commitment to manned space exploration, they need to push for continued funding of the Shuttle until Constellation is ready, extending the planned life of the ISS to retain a long-term presense in low-Earth orbit, and rethinking the strategy for going to Mars such that its a more realistic approach.

The amount of inventions and improvements to our lives that came from NASA R&D is enormous. It would be extremely short sighted to curtail NASA’s growth.

The current NASA plan was developed during the Bush Administration. I know there are politicians who understand what space exploration brings to the table, and who support that. I am not so sure those same politicians support what currently is called NASA.

Yes, the United States of America needs to continue exploring space and develop new technologies. No, the current NASA plan is not necessarily the best way to do it. Obviously, Elon Musk's plan is also not necessarily the best way to do it either, considering he doesn't spend enough resources getting the bugs out of his propulsion systems before attempting a launch with real payload.

Just how many "top national priority" items does McCain have now? How does he plan to pay for all of these top priorities?

While a huge proponent of space exploration, I must submit that there are more serious issues on terra firma today that need addressing before we leave the planet. I would much rather see the government, and NASA, promote private funding for space programs and innovation, who historically have more resources, and intelligence, than productivity evidenced within government agencies alone.

The issue for both candidates to recognize is that NASA's plans for going to Mars are ridiculous to begin with. Current planning and budgeting forces NASA to abandon any U.S. launch capability to the ISS for too many years, relying on a partner (Russia) that is becoming more belligerent--and likely less reliable and trustworthy in the years to come--to be the sole-provider in manned launch services for nearly 5 years. Even once Constellation is online, logical stepping stones/proving grounds to Mars, like going to a near-Earth asteroid, are ignored.

If either candidate wants to have a long-term view and demonstrated commitment to manned space exploration, they need to push for continued funding of the Shuttle until Constellation is ready, extending the planned life of the ISS to retain a long-term presense in low-Earth orbit, and rethinking the strategy for going to Mars such that its a more realistic approach.

"Sometimes it is difficult to know what a politician will actually do once in office, because they say different things at different times to different people."

John McCain said that?

He sure has either an incredible amount of gall, or he simply knows that such cases of pot vs kettle will be blithely swept under the rug by the reporters covering (for) him.

McCain is intent on painting Obama as a typical special interest politician--the question is why Obama has not counter-punced, given all the changes of John McCain over the past several years on far more critical issues than NASA's budget.

Either Obama hits back or it will be a difficult fall campaign.

Too bad that pretty soon our schools will not be able to produce students smart enough to keep NASA running........ I guess we will just worry about that when the time comes.......

with mccain's double-down of w's tax cuts that will blow the 10-year deficit from w's 4 to 9 trillion, mccain wouldn't be able to afford anything else. simple arithmetic, albeit mind-boggling irresponsible.

all talk. enough already. obama08

And... where's the Obama Campaign's response???

I just wanted to add that the space program is already on the way out without any help from either candidate! Our space shuttles reach their life expectancy within two years at which point we have no way into space... Incidentally, because the current administration has cut key funding to NASA. So how do we get to space starting in 2010? We hitch a ride with other countries! And that's not so bad really. Is it so hard to think as a planet and share our resources with one another? Instead of this, "we have this technology and have gone to the reaches of space so we are better and all other countries will remain inferior" mentality. I'm over it! Could we discuss more prominent issues like the fact that McCain doesn't even use a computer? There's a point I WISH he'd flip-flop on! :)

Senator Obama has made the physical sciences and engineering a top priority, but unlike Senator McCain, knows that we have to pay for everything---no more "republican borrow and spend". It's time for some fiscal discipline in Washington! Bush has been and Bush/McCain will be disastrous for the nation's economy. Promise everything (then deliver to contractors) and then barrow your children's money to pay for it. Perhaps Senator McCain thinks he won't be around for the embarrassing and painful bill.

With all due respect, when a politician abstains from voting on dozens and dozens of issues as he has done, it's a wonder how Obama has gotten this far. He's sneaky but good at staying under the radar. I'm not surprised at his flip-flopping.

John mc-lame think he caught Obama in another trap, ha Obama is the smart one here, now why would you put NASA's exploration in the number 1 priority seat..when we havnt fix our own economy. That money can be used to like Obama said to fund a better education of our children...also gas maybe a little cheaper but its still high......

Screw the space program! We have MUCH MORE pressing matters to concern ourselves with, and our money with, then weather there is ice water on Mars!

Screw McCain. The space program will be fine being cut back for a few years. The fact that this country is 9 Trillion in debt is one of the most important issues right now. This economy is going to shit right now, and before you know it, its going to be another Great depression! I'm sure America can do without a space progam for now.