奥巴马新太空计划演讲

Remarks by the President on Space Exploration in the 21st Century

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THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you. (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Thank you, everybody.  Please have a seat.  Thank you.

I want to thank Senator Bill Nelson and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden for their extraordinary leadership.  I want to recognize Dr. Buzz Aldrin as well, who's in the house.  (Applause.)  Four decades ago, Buzz became a legend.  But in the four decades since he's also been one of America's leading visionaries and authorities on human space flight.

Few people -- present company excluded -- can claim the expertise of Buzz and Bill and Charlie when it comes to space exploration.  I have to say that few people are as singularly unimpressed by Air Force One as those three.  (Laughter.)  Sure, it's comfortable, but it can't even reach low Earth orbit.  And that obviously is in striking contrast to the Falcon 9 rocket we just saw on the launch pad, which will be tested for the very first time in the coming weeks.

A couple of other acknowledgments I want to make.  We've got Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee from Texas visiting us, a big supporter of the space program.  (Applause.)  My director, Office of Science and Technology Policy -- in other words my chief science advisor -- John Holdren is here.  (Applause.)  And most of all I want to acknowledge your congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, because every time I meet with her, including the flight down here, she reminds me of how important our NASA programs are and how important this facility is.  And she is fighting for every single one of you and for her district and for the jobs in her district.  And you should know that you've got a great champion in Congresswoman Kosmas.  Please give her a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

I also want to thank everybody for participating in today's conference.  And gathered here are scientists, engineers, business leaders, public servants, and a few more astronauts as well.  Last but not least, I want to thank the men and women of NASA for welcoming me to the Kennedy Space Center, and for your contributions not only to America, but to the world.

Here at the Kennedy Space Center we are surrounded by monuments and milestones of those contributions.  It was from here that NASA launched the missions of Mercury and Gemini and Apollo.  It was from here that Space Shuttle Discovery, piloted by Charlie Bolden, carried the Hubble Telescope into orbit, allowing us to plumb the deepest recesses of our galaxy.  And I should point out, by the way, that in my private office just off the Oval, I've got the picture of Jupiter from the Hubble.  So thank you, Charlie, for helping to decorate my office.  (Laughter.)  It was from here that men and women, propelled by sheer nerve and talent, set about pushing the boundaries of humanity's reach.

That's the story of NASA.  And it's a story that started a little more than half a century ago, far from the Space Coast, in a remote and desolate region of what is now called Kazakhstan.  Because it was from there that the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, which was little more than a few pieces of metal with a transmitter and a battery strapped to the top of a missile.  But the world was stunned.  Americans were dumbfounded.  The Soviets, it was perceived, had taken the lead in a race for which we were not yet fully prepared.

But we caught up very quick.  President Eisenhower signed legislation to create NASA and to invest in science and math education, from grade school to graduate school.  In 1961, President Kennedy boldly declared before a joint session of Congress that the United States would send a man to the Moon and return him safely to the Earth within the decade.  And as a nation, we set about meeting that goal, reaping rewards that have in the decades since touched every facet of our lives.  NASA was at the forefront.  Many gave their careers to the effort.  And some have given far more.