Obama's Space Policy Desecrates the Memory of 24 Dead Astronauts

The Astronauts Memorial Foundation, which was established in Florida after seven astronauts were killed in the 1986 Challenger accident, wrote a letter to Pres. Obama, on March 5, which was released to the public yesterday. The Foundation is headed by Michael McCulley, a former astronaut, and honors the 24 American astronauts who have "made the ultimate sacrifice for our space program and our nation. These astronauts sacrificed their lives as pioneers in human space flight," the letter begins.

The letter states that when the names of the seven astronauts, who died in the 2003 Columbia Shuttle accident, were added to the Florida Memorial, Dr. John Clark, the husband of Columbia astronaut Laurel Clark, speaking for the Columbia families, said, "in spite of the risks, America must remain a space faring nation and not become a space fearing nation." (emphasis in original). The letter ends: "In order to honor those astronauts and their families who have sacrificed for all of the benefits of human space exploration, and to allow Americans continued pride in our space program, we urge you to vigorously support uninterrupted continuation of U.S. human space flight systems, including the Space Shuttle, and to maintain NASA's leadership in space exploration." Copies of the letter were sent to NASA Administrator Bolden, Lawrence Summers, John Holdren, Peter Orszag, Hillary Clinton, and 26 Senators and representatives.

The letter intervenes in to the highly-charged political situation in Florida, where all of the state's legislators have also written to the President, protesting the cancellation of Constellation, and where the President intends to do his imitation of "Custer's last stand," trying to defend his evil space policy, near the Kennedy Space Center on April 15th.