President Obama's approval rating has dipped well below 50 percent. A majority of the public disapproves of Obamacare, the massive bailouts of the bank and automobile industries, and trade bill.
But Mr. Obama's decision to cancel NASA’s $9 billion Constellation program to return astronauts to the moon 42 years after Apollo 11 may have the most serious repercussions.
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Author Ross Hawkins, far left end of the second row at Brooks AFB in 1963. Details are at the end of the accompanying story.
Instead of pursuing President John F. Kennedy's dream of “flying to the edge of the solar system in nuclear powered space ships,” the United States will be left without a launch vehicle capable of carrying astronauts beyond the international Space Station.
In Walter Shapiro’s column last Feb. 3 in Inside Politics Daily, “Pulling the Plug on Space Travel: One Small Step for Obama's Budgetary Math,” he discussed the remarks of the new NASA director, Charles Bolden, about cancellation of the moon project.
Mr. Shapiro writes:
“Bolden, a former astronaut and retired Marine Corps General, tried to pretend that gassy rhetoric alone would lift America back into moon orbit. Presenting NASA's budget, Bolden used the the kind of cliché-filled, self-congratulatory language used by corporate CEOs when they miss their earning targets.”
Mr. Shapiro hardly is a Fox News Channel wannabe. He was a presidential speechwriter for President Carter in 1979 and has been a reporter for the Washington Post.
President Obama didn't endear himself to the thousands of people who have worked on the space program when he said, “We can no longer coddle rocket hobbyists.”
Amazingly, his new administrator at NASA, Mr. Bolden, rocked many last winter when he announced that his foremost mission as the head of America's space exploration program is to improve relations with the Muslim world.
Mr. Bolden said NASA seeks “better interaction with the Muslim world to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math and engineering.”
Six Apollo missions landed astronauts on the moon. Twelve men have walked on the planet. These missions returned a wealth of scientific data, and they spurred advances in medicine, computers, high definition television and manned space flight.
On Thursday, Nov. 21, 1963, one day before he was assassinated, President Kennedy spoke at the Brooks School of Aerospace Medicine, in San Antonio where he dedicated a new wing at the SAM Center.
“For more than three years, I have spoken about the New Frontier. This is not a partisan term. It is not the exclusive property of Republicans or Democrats.
“I have come to Texas today, to salute an outstanding group of pioneers, the men who man the Brooks Air Force Base School of Aerospace Medicine and the Aerospace Medical Center. Many Americans make the mistake of assuming that space research has no value here on earth. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just as wartime development of radar gave us the transistor and all that it has made possible, so research in space medicine holds the promise of substantial benefit for those of us who are earthbound.
“Recalling his boyhood, the Irish writer Frank O’Conner said when he and his friends were jogging across the countryside, they had a simple trick for achieving the impossible. When they came to an orchard wall that seemed too high to climb, they took off their hats and tossed them over the wall. They had no choice but to follow them.
“This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space. We have no choice but to follow it.
“Whatever the difficulties, they must be overcome. Whatever the hazards, they must be guarded against.
“With the vital assistance of this Aerospace Medical Center, and with the help of those who labor in the space endeavor, aided by all Americans, we will climb the wall with safety and with speed. Then we shall then explore the wonders on the other side.”
Thirty members of Congress have told Mr. Bolden in a letter that his termination of the lunar program without Congressional permission may be illegal.
After the mid-term elections on Nov. 2, Mr. Bolden should be tossed over the wall. Then we can continue our journey.
Editor’s Note:
The group photo of the Physiological Training Class of 1963 at the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, including reporter Ross Hawkins, was present at the dedication attended by President Kennedy.
Mr. Hawkins was assigned to preparing and maintaining the Green Room for the press corps in attendance. After his speech, the President Kennedy and his wife returned to the building where they gave a thumbs-up to a group of enlisted volunteers living in an altitude chamber at 10,000 feet above ground level on 100 percent oxygen.
The next day, Nov. 22, 1963, as the students were on their way back to the classroom, it was announced over the P.A. system that President Kennedy had been shot. The students were the first people in the world to learn that the President was dead, as Brooks' Commanding Officer had a direct line to Parkland Hospital, Dallas.
Their NCOIC, T/Sgt. Virgil Duke, was an expert rifle marksman. The first reports were that three shots had been fired. Sgt. Duke told the class that he had test-fired the weapon that belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald. He said he could not have fired it three times in the time allotted. A more detailed account of that fateful day will appear in Mr. Hawkins's upcoming book, “The Ocean Park Chronicles.”
Mr. Hawkins may be contacted at rjhculvercity@aol.com
