With NASA chief in place, Trump's legacy can be a return to the moon Orlando Sentinel, Sep 5, 2017, Douglas MacKinnon
t’s a real shame that our politicians threw away the sacrifice and accomplishments of the Apollo moon landings.”
Those words had been spoken to me by Gene Cernan — the last human to walk on the moon and the personification of a true American hero.
He was a man who believed we never should have abandoned the moon because of the role it could play in science, mining and national security.
He and I, along with dozens of other people, had been invited to NASA headquarters on Jan. 14, 2004, to hear the latest presidential “vision” for space — this one by President George W. Bush.
In his remarks, Bush not only acknowledged Cernan, but quoted from the last words Cernan had spoken from the moon in December 1972: “We leave as we came, and God willing as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.”
Bush stressed that it was his intention to “… make those words come true,” with his announced desire to return the United States “to the moon by 2020.”
Welcome words, but hollow nonetheless.
While Bush may have meant it, there was next to no support from Congress.
And then, four years later, came President Barack Obama — a man who, while campaigning for president in 2007, made it clear that he had little or no use for the American manned space program. While president, he basically ended that program.
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And now, President Donald J. Trump has finally picked the 13th administrator of NASA. He settled on Congressman James Bridenstine of Oklahoma.
Bridenstine is an outstanding choice for a variety of critically important reasons: Not only is he a Naval aviator who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee, but he believes it imperative that America return to the moon.
More:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-ed-nasa-administrator-trump-legacy-return-to-moon-20170905-story.html
