H.R. 3057: To the Asteroids, Moon and Mars

apsmith writes "Democrats have just introduced the Space Exploration Act of 2003 to the U.S. House of Representatives; the author is Nick Lampson of Texas, with 26 co-sponsors. The bill sets a vision and goals for the future of NASA, beyond the Low Earth Orbit of the Space Station and Shuttle, outlining a series of incremental steps for human spaceflight. These include development of reusable spacecraft for carrying people around in the Earth-Moon vicinity, including to the nearby Lagrange points; sending people to an Earth-crossing asteroid; establishing a lunar base, and sending people to Mars with a base on a Martian moon by 2024."

Comments

Re:Hmmm-

[Anonvmous Coward]

"You are aware, Congress, that you can't legislate the advace of technology right?"

You mean like Digital TV by 2006?

Re:Now the important question...

[SydShamino]

Well, keep an eye on the bill. If the cosigners cross party lines but are almost all in aerospace districts (and no, I haven't checked if they do and are), then I would categorize the bill as A), "a good idea, which passes only because it provides pork across the country."

If the cosigners are all Democrats, then one of two things will happen. B), the bill is scuttled by the current congress as "more pork barrel legislation on idealistic goals, when we instead need to deal with the real world and real issues." Or, C), the bill is modified to specify that only Haliburton can receive any of the funds, all Democrats end up voting against their own bill, and congress points out how Demos "vote against pushing the boundaries of science, technology, and human achievement that made this country great."

Option D) is that the bill is entirely Democrat backed, but it is embraced by Republicans and passes overwhelmingly. Personally, I'm not optimistic. :)

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The above post is to be considered Funny +1 and/or Interesting +1.

Out of curiosity

[Timesprout]

Given the recent trends we have seen from the US (Pax Americana, attempting to control the Gulf, the intention to control technology etc). I am curious to know how people think the US would respond were China for example to make sudden huge breakthroughs in space technology within the next 5-10 years and begin establishing Lunar/Martian bases and exploring deeper space?

Pretty cheap too...

[Bendebecker]

"(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator for carrying out this Act--
(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and
(2) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2005."

Heck, M$ could pay for the bill. Why not get some sponsorship? Good PR for the company, a mission that wouldn't have been for NASA. Just as long as the given company didn't try to patent any organism it may/may not find on Mars.

As for the bill itself, all I can do is appluad. Finally, some ppl in washington with vision. We fucked this planet up to the point where it is going to take 1000's of years to fix it (if ever). The current attitude that is mostly 'let's fix earth's problems first' simply isn't realistic anymore. In addition, we have wasted enough time in low-earth orbit. Let's really start exploring space now. The space program has been asleep since the end of apollo, the sleeper must awaken. Plus, if an asteroid pulverizes earth, at least any colonies on mars we can set up mmight survive. The time for the future has come!

"...a person needs new experiences, it touches something deep inside us allowing us to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken!"
---Dune (The Movie)

why space exploration == NASA budget?

[BigGerman]

It seems to me much better way to actually get space exploration going is to make it profitable for a business.
Is not it what a well-behaived capitalist government supposed to do? Promote good things, guard against the bad things but generally stay away?
Giving more money to large government agency that was flying shuttles mostly "because there were there" would not get us any further.
Congress needs to come up with a major incensive for businesses to go to space. Like a super Xprize. (or tax-free lifetime for any corp or individual participating in a Mars shot ;-)

Note the Congressional Districts

[ketan]

Note that Nick Lampson is representative from the Texas 10th District. From his web site (emphasis added):

This site is a resource for and about the Ninth District, which serves areas in Jefferson, Chambers, Harris, and Galveston counties; including Johnson Space Center, NASA's astronaut training facility and Mission Control.

Note also that 11 of the 26 sponsors are also from Texas. I'm not making a comment about this bill's worth. However, Lampson's district would probably benefit from a beefed up space program, and the state of Texas itself would also benefit. The line between worthy project and pork is a very fuzzy one. My representative (D-Texas 10th) is not on that list, but I'm sure he was asked, since Lampson seems to have made an effort to get Texas representatives on board. I also note that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas 22nd) is not a co-sponsor. His district includes parts of Harris County (Houston) and Galveston county as well. Maybe just a political thing, since the other sponsors are Democrats. I wonder if one of the California Democrats has Vandenberg in his/her district. Nobody from Florida, though, so no direct connection with Cape Canaveral. Food for thought.