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CNN SUNDAY MORNING

Bush Expected to Make Major Space Policy Announcement

Aired January 11, 2004 - 08:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Wednesday, President Bush is expected to make a major announcement on the future of U.S. space policy. We've been discussing this, this morning. CNN's Miles O'Brien has some thoughts on that.
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MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We have heard it before.

JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe that this nation should commit itself.

O'BRIEN: With some amazing results.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's one small step for man...

O'BRIEN: And some missteps.

GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My commitment today, to forge ahead with a sustained manned exploration program.

O'BRIEN: When the senior George Bush pledged to send Americans to Mars in 1989 the idea never got off the ground. Stymied by NASA's gold-plated dreaming and a congressional reality check. So which scenario will it be when this president reaches for Mars? No different says space critic Bob Park.

BOB PARK, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: We simply could not afford it. And we still can't. It hasn't gotten any cheaper.

O'BRIEN: But this time NASA is thinking cheaper. The current plan, fly the shuttles until 2010, then mothball them the moment the International Space Station is complete. The replacement, a smaller spacecraft nimble enough to carry crews to low Earth orbit, the moon or Mars..

KEITH COWING, EDITOR, NASAWATCH.COM: It is going to be modular. You add one piece here, another piece there. You want to go to this place, you take two of those or one of those.

O'BRIEN: NASA would build a lunar outpost to learn what it's like to live extraterrestrially (ph). And as a pit stop on the way to the Red Planet. But why go when robots can do our bidding there so well, as one is right now? PARK: This is the way I think we'll explore the universe. We won't explore it by sending human beings out there.

O'BRIEN: Pshaw, say the space enthusiasts. There are some things robots can't do.

ANDREW CHAIKIN, AUTHOR, "A MAN ON THE MOON": I think excitement factor is crucial. I think that we desperately need inspiration. And we desperately need an investment in our long-term future.

O'BRIEN (on camera): Ah, yes, the investment. How much would it cost? Well, there's talk of an $800 million down payment next year and then five percent increases to NASA's annual $15 billion budget in the years to follow. It's no small change, but exploration has a way of paying off in ways that are hard to predict.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.

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