President Obama recently announced his administration’s intent to cancel the Constellation Program, which is NASA’s plan to continue human space flight after the Space Shuttle is retired next year. Such a move could place at risk Mississippi’s continued leadership in our nation’s space program.

Since 1961, Mississippi has played a central role in America’s ambitious efforts to reach beyond Earth’s atmosphere and explore the last frontier – space. At the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, our state’s skilled technicians and engineers have tested the rocket engines of the Apollo Program and the Space Shuttles which have put men on the Moon and kept America at the forefront of space exploration. 

The termination of the Constellation Program would be a major shift for NASA and could have serious implications for the Stennis Space Center and the economic well-being of South Mississippi. Stennis’s workforce is approximately 5,400 with nearly half of that comprised of NASA employees and contractors. Seventy percent of Stennis employees live in Mississippi. The direct economic impact of Stennis within a 50-mile radius last year was $668 million. Economists project that directly and indirectly, Stennis was responsible for 28,000 local area jobs, more than $609 million in retail sales, and over $90 million in tax revenue in 2009.

                        Shifting NASA’s Purpose
If the Constellation Program is cancelled, it is unclear how American astronauts would be transported into space, potentially forcing us to rely on foreign vehicles launched by Russia or even China. The administration has expressed its intention to rely more heavily on the involvement of private companies, but to date only one private spacecraft has been launched into space, and it carried cargo, not astronauts. While we should encourage private investment in space exploration, private capability is not presently advanced enough to continue the momentum of human space flight. Without a way into space, America could fall behind in scientific research and jeopardize billions of taxpayer dollars that have been invested in the International Space Station.
What is also troubling in the President’s budget is the dramatic shift away from the spirit and purpose of NASA. While the budget would not decrease funding for NASA, the President proposes redirecting federal investment in ways that could seriously undercut NASA’s mission. For example, some of the money that would be taken from the Constellation Program would be used to increase study of earth science by more than $1 billion. This could direct NASA funding to questionable climate change research and other areas of study that I believe fall outside the scope of our nation’s space agency. The budget proposal would also dramatically increase exploration research and development, but with no clear goal or purposes. Research and development is a worthy endeavor, but we must know where we are going so we know what to study and how to invest.

Altogether, the administration’s budget proposal represents a lot of directionless spending. This does not bode well for the future of NASA. Without a plan and clearly outlined funding to execute it, we risk losing our position in space. If NASA’s mission becomes increasingly obscured, it could be harder to justify funding the agency and its activities.  

                         A Plan for the Future
I recently spoke to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and shared with him my deep concerns over the proposed budget and its potential impact on Stennis. Administrator  Bolden assured me that the nearly half a billion dollar federal investment in Stennis’s new rocket testing facility would be completed and used for future rocket projects despite the proposed cancellation of the Constellation Program. He also assured me that Stennis will continue to play an important role in NASA’s ongoing exploration plans.

I remain skeptical. It is important that we know what those plans are and how we will execute them. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy set the goal of putting a man on the Moon – and through hard work, ingenuity, and willpower, America achieved it. Today, we must reassert our leadership in space exploration, reaffirm our commitment to NASA and its programs, and ensure that national assets like Stennis will play a vital role.

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