Bush's moon proposal only 'whimsical ploy'

President George W. Bush once again has issued the challenge to NASA to send man to the moon and beyond. Bush has set forth clear goals for NASA — to complete the International Space Station on schedule by 2010 and retire the space shuttle upon its completion, to have a new Crew Exploration Vehicle designed and operational no later than 2014 and use the CEV to initiate a return to the moon by 2020.

This Renewed Spirit of Discovery plan is commendable for setting clear goals for and drawing public attention to an organization that has suffered in recent years from lack of direction and support. However, its goals are neither realistic nor responsible.

Bush's plan calls for the reallocation of $11 billion within the agency and increasing NASA's funding by an additional $1 billion over five years. He will keep NASA's budget to less than 1 percent of the total national budget.

This seems a good deal for the taxpayers, but it leaves NASA to make up the slack. While replacing the 30-year-old shuttles is a responsible move for NASA to make in the wake of last February's Columbia disaster, the Bush administration needs to keep a realistic view of the costs involved.

The original space shuttle cost $6.7 billion in 1980, half of the five year budget for the current moon expedition. According to Popular Science, NASA estimates the cost of building a space shuttle replacement would be around $35 billion, with the cost of building and developing the CEV currently unknown.

While the CEV would be a smaller version of the space shuttle, similar to Russia's Progress Capsules (used to service the ISS), it also would be without the payload capacity or lifespan of the shuttle — possibly necessitating a more shuttle like replacement at some point in the future.

Even if the CEV adequately can replace the shuttle — which is doubtful — the cost for traveling to the moon likely will far exceed the $12 billion allocated to it for the next five years. The Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs cost $23 billion in eight years in the 1960s. Bush makes no mention of funding projections beyond the next five years.

Retiring the space shuttle leaves several loose ends. Without a space shuttle, NASA will be unable to service satellites, including the Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA already has canceled all servicing missions to the telescope due to costs and, according to NASA, Hubble will crashland in 2007 or 2008. NASA had not intended to replace the Hubble until 2011, with the aid of the space shuttles.

The plan leaves NASA unable to deliver large payloads to space, which decreases Mission Control's options in the event of a disaster aboard the ISS. The ability to deliver supplies for large-scale repairs, the expansion of the ISS, or other space stations — such as Bush's proposed moon base — also will be affected.

A trip to the moon — not to mention a moon base — has international ramifications that must be addressed, especially because Bush's proposal makes no mention of international cooperation after the completion of the ISS.

Space exploration always has been a field of general international good will, even during the Cold War. Now, in our age of ever-increasing globalism, proceeding without cooperation from the European Space Agency, China or any other nation — regardless of technical capability — can be seen as a dangerous and aggressive step toward a U.S.-dominated inner solar system.

China announced, after successfully sending astronauts into space in October, that it intends to send manned missions to the moon and Mars, according to CNN. China is willing to cooperate with the United States, but rather than cooperate with Beijing, the Bush administration has chosen to perceive a threat in China's space program. Bush believes China might use space technology to attack the United States.

The worldview that every technologically advanced nation with a different ideology is a threat is not a view that should be carried into outer space in this age. Rather, the United States should seek the help and cooperation of the nations it will be sharing outer space with in the years to come.

The timetable proposed in the Renewed Spirit of Discovery plan calls for a return to the moon by 2020 — 16 years from now. This is at least 11 years after Bush will leave office and twice as long as it took NASA to start from scratch and go to the moon in the 1960s. This lengthy timetable, combined with insufficient funding, leaves any blame for failure of the project squarely off Bush's shoulders and on those of his successor(s).

Bush's plan is a whimsical ploy designed to appeal to the scientific community without requiring him to make any real political or financial commitment.

It would be wonderful for the nation to move into a new era of space exploration, but Bush's plan does not provide d adequately for it financially, scientifically or politically.