President Has Firm Vision for Space

• By Rep. Dave Weldon
• Special to Roll Call
• June 4, 2004, 1:08 p.m.

We all remember when on Feb. 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew were lost during re-entry. In the intervening year, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, under the outstanding leadership of retired Adm. Hal Gehman, discovered the root causes of the accident — technical and otherwise. One of the major findings was the lack of a unifying, overarching goal for space exploration and research. The CAIB recommendation was something a lot of us in the space arena have desired — a national long-term set of objectives articulated by President Bush. On Jan. 14, 2004, the president did just that — he boldly pronounced a long- term, sustainable, affordable and achievable vision for our nation’s space program.