NASA Celebrates 50th Anniversary

It was fifty years ago today, on July 29, 1958, that President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In the half century that has elapsed since that day, the agency has landed men on the Moon and sent robotic probes to land on, orbit or fly past scores of other worlds throughout the Solar System. The information gained through these explorations represents the greatest treasure trove of scientific knowledge ever obtained.

In the long run, historians will look back on the first half century of NASA's history in much the same way that modern historians look back on the voyages of European explorers to the New World from the late 15th Century onward.

The Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration believes that the next fifty years of NASA's history can be even more extraordinary. On July 29, 2058, perhaps we will be looking back on a half century that saw the creation of permanent human outposts on the Moon and Mars, the beginnings of the transformation of humanity into a space-faring species.

Celebrate today and keep dreaming about tomorrow.

Committee Director Jeff Brooks Speaks at Nick Lampson Campaign Rally

Jeff Brooks, Director of the Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration, was invited by the Nick Lampson for Congress campaign to address the crowd at the grand opening of the campaign's headquarters in Clear Lake, TX, not far from the Johnson Space Center. To a packed room of campaign volunteers and friends, Jeff told them that the Committee had endorsed Congressman Lampson for reelection, which lead to loud and sustained applause.

Jeff reminded the crowd that it was only the visionary leadership of Thomas Jefferson that lead to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Similarly, it was the visionary leadership of John F. Kennedy that lead to the Apollo program. In our own time, we need strong and visionary leadership in Congress to ensure that the space program is not sidetracked or neglected, especially in this time of severe budget pressures.

Congressman Nick Lampson represents that kind of leadership and it is critical for the future of the space program that he win reelection.

Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration Joins National Coalition for Cheap and Reliable Access to Space

The Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration believes firmly that the greatest technical difficulty in the way of creating a space-faring civilization is the enormous cost of launching vehicles and cargo into orbit. Indeed, simply getting from the surface into Earth orbit is by far the most difficult task in most space missions. It has often been correctly pointed out that, if you can get from the Earth's surface into Earth orbit, you are halfway to anywhere in the Universe.

The Committee therefore supports the development of new technologies and techniques whose purpose is to bring launch costs down to such a level that the economic barriers to the development of space are vastly reduced. As part of this, we are proud to announce that the Committee has joined with 13 other pro-space organizations to create the National Coalition for Cheap and Reliable Access to Space.

Jeff Brooks, Director of the Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration, said, "We have achieved so many amazing things in the half century since the Space Age began. If we could break the chains of high launch costs by developing cheaper and more reliable access to space, our ability to achieve even more would be increased many times over."

NASA Sets Shuttle Launch Dates for 2009 and 2010

What might be termed the "Space Shuttle Era" is finally drawing to a close. NASA has released the targeted launch dates for the Shuttle missions over the next two years. One or two might be added, depending on the actions of Congress in regards to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, but with the conclusion of these announced missions, the International Space Station will be completed, the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope flown, and the Shuttle can go into honorable retirement.

As the Shuttle program draws to a close, it is imperative that NASA ramp up its efforts on Project Constellation. We need to have the Orion spacecraft and the Ares rockets in operation as soon as we can following the retirement of the Shuttle. Failure to do so could result in a stalled and listless space program, it being very difficult to overcome bureaucratic inertia.