I got a phone call from NASA a couple of months ago, and they asked me to fly to Washington and give a lecture to their engineers on what the future of the space program was going to be like.Īnd I kind of asked them, you know, don't you have somebody on staff that knows this stuff a little bit better than I do? And they said no. And that would enable NASA to go beyond low-Earth orbit for the first time since 1972, which was the last of the manned moon missions of Apollo.īut maybe the most problematic one for NASA is going to be seed money to commercial companies to come up with commercially built capsules to go to the International Space Station. We can go into that if you like.īut in addition to that, they're also talking about a new heavy-lift launch rocket, which is pretty big news for Alabama because it would be built at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. They're thinking of keeping it around at least until the end of this current fiscal year, which is kind of ironic because they've got the spare parts for two official missions and then one more that's being referred to in some quarters as the suicide mission. Number one, the space shuttle obviously is going to go away but not as fast as what NASA was talking about. DUGGINS: Well, when Congress sat down and came up with what was known as the authorization bill for NASA - it's kind of like, you know, the instructions, this agency will do this, this and this, had a whole number of things in mind. So as NASA begins the move into this brand new world that President Obama has in mind, there will be casualties, and some of these folks unfortunately are included.įLATOW: And please describe for us exactly what that new world is, what NASA announced its new mission is. They build the solid rocket boosters for the shuttle. Another 250 are expected at the Marshall Space Flight Center here in Alabama, another 400 at ATK Thiokol. Just a few moments ago, we had 1,200 layoffs at the Kennedy Space Center. DUGGINS: Well, unfortunately, the unpleasant stuff started just a few minutes ago, I'm afraid, Ira. Before we get to Mars, let's talk about the news that's happening in - a little closer to where you are than I am, and what's going on with NASA and budget cuts and their new direction. How are you?įLATOW: Thanks for joining us. ![]() PAT DUGGINS (Author, "Trailblazing Mars"): Thank you very much, Ira. He's the news director of Alabama Public Radio, the author of "Trailblazing Mars: NASA's Next Giant Leap." Welcome back, Pat. And here to tell us more about the challenges NASA will face in sending people to Mars is Pat Duggins. It sits there in the stars waiting, waiting with the patience of eons, forever waiting in the twilight zone.įLATOW: A safer place than waiting in the twilight zone for contemplating a visit to Mars is right in your living room, reading a new book. ROD SERLING (Writer, Producer): Up there, up there in the vastness of space, in a void that is sky, up there is an enemy known as isolation. (Soundbite of TV show, "The Twilight Zone") ![]() The psychological challenges may be as great as the technological ones, and writers like Rod Serling have thought about the stress of space travel and actually include it in programs. NASA's orders are to get astronauts to an asteroid by 2025, Mars by the 2030s.īut how does the agency prepare for expeditions like that? And how do you prepare the astronauts for missions that could take years of lonely travel, perhaps cost them their lives? Say goodbye to the shuttle program and a return to the moon. This week, Congress approved a bill that outlines a new direction for NASA. And this week, that dream may have come just a bit closer to reality. You know, that's always been a dream of science fiction writers, film and television producer. Up next, space exploration, visiting planets like Mars.
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