From the new NASA Administrator

Administrator Charles. F. Bolden:

"Today, we have to choose. Either we can invest in building on our hard-earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment, ceding it to other nations who are working diligently to push the frontiers of space... If we choose to lead, we must build on our investment in the International Space Station, accelerate development of our next generation launch systems to enable expansion of human exploration, enhance NASA's capability to study Earth's environment, lead space science to new achievements, continue cutting-edge aeronautics research, support the innovation of American entrepreneurs, and inspire a rising generation of boys and girls to seek careers in science, technology, engineering and math."

COMMENT. Good words, but the President who appointed Bolden has already chosen to slowly strangle this vision to death. Unless we come up with new approaches to space, the NASA budget - projected as flat from here on out after a one-year bump in FY10 - will doom us to a limited robotic program and LEO-only human spaceflight. Here's hoping Bolden can persuade the President and Congress otherwise.