November 18, 2007 (LPAC)--Simply put, if the United States population is not allowed to rediscover the reason which compel us toward manned space travel, then how will they attempt to define the meaning of their continued existence, even on Earth?

Don't make any space travel plans between 2010 and 2015 because there won't be anything to fly in--at least, not an American vehicle, as things now stand. Only a crash program, and an additional $2 billion, will close the gap between the retirement of the Shuttle and flight of NASA's new manned vehicle, NASA head Micheal Griffin told a Senate hearing Nov. 15th. As it now stands, the U.S. will not be able to transport astronauts to the space station (or anywhere else), from Sept. 2010 until March 2015. Griffin has called this gap "unseemly in the extreme," and "unwise strategically." The Senate voted a $1 billion increase for NASA's FY08 budget, which is unlikely to make it through conference with the House, which did not do so.