because ultimately if we fail to press forward in the pursuit of discovery, we re ceding our future and the element of the american character. i know there have been a number of questions raised by my administration s plan for space exploration, especially in this part of florida where so many rely on nasa for income, pride and community. these questions come at a time of transition. as a space shuttle nears a scheduled retirement after almost 30 years of service. this adds to the worries of folks concerned not only about their future but the future of the space program to which they have devoted their lives. but i know that underlying they concerns is a deeper worry. one that perceives not only this plan but this administration. it stems from the sense that people in washington driven sometimes less by vision than by politics have neglected nasa s
40 initiative to develop a plan to regional economic growth and job creation and i expect this plan to reach my desk by august 15. it s an effort that happen help repair that already skilled workforce for new opportunities in the space industry and beyond. so this is the next chapter that we can write together here at nasa. we will partner with industry, we will invest in cutting edge research and technology. we will set far-reaching milestones and provide the resource to say reach those milestones. and step-by-step we will push the boundaries not only where we can go but what we can do. 50 years after the creation of nasa, our goal is no longer just
or ability to properly manage a big program like that. but i want to be positive about nasa. shepard: that doesn t sound positive. it s just a speech. it doesn t work for me. it was pretty but there was no meat. we choose to go to the moon, we do it in this decade. shepard: i don t understand where the distracters of this president get off. what they re saying is we ve got to spend less money, spend money more wisely and the president just said, all the indications are what he wants to do is modernize the space program, make it so we can be versatile and make more trips and create a bunch of things about like ones we re about to talk about here. i think the people he s got in charge don t have a clue how. you can see that in february when they have the plan they ve changed about every other week. this is the latest. if they would come out and
testing and improving our capabilities in space. this includes technology like more efficient life support systems that reduce the cost of future missions. and in order to reach the space station, we will work with a growing array of private companies competing to make get to go space easier and more affordable. [ applause ] i recognize some have said its unfeasible or unwise to work with the private sector in this way. i disagree. the truth is, nasa has always relied on private industry to help design and build the vehicles that carry astronauts to space from the mercury capsule that carried john glenn nearly 50 years ago to the space shuttle discovery currently overhead. by buying the services of space transportation, rather than the vehicles themself, we can
we ve been listening to the president, bill nelson, the senator from the state of florida, very big nasa supporter, the president making it clear, despite what you read, he s far from dismantling the space program, instead he s ratcheting it up and making it modern. due hear that part of about going to the asteroid? one of mar s moons? spending millions and millions of dollars to upgrade it, operate along with private industry. to help nasa be bigger an better. the president remarking on the future of space travel in general and us space geeks are happy to hear it. missions in the past have defined the united states since the dawn of the cold war and helped us win it. president obama trying to convince the nasa folks sculpting the trips to the moon is in their best interest and will create thousands of jobs. his detractors said nasa is