Space exploration priority, NASA chief says
WASHINGTON — The United States will continue to lead in space exploration despite the end of the space shuttle program, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Friday during an appearance at the National Press Club.
The space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch for the last time July 8. After that U.S. astronauts will ride to and from the International Space Station in the Russian's Soyuz capsule. Commercial space companies will deliver supplies to the space station on unmanned rockets.
The United States needs to cede its low-earth orbit missions, such as the space shuttle, to the private sector so it can free up resources to explore deep space, Bolden said. President Obama has directed NASA to work toward sending manned spacecraft to an asteroid and to Mars.
"American leadership in space will continue for at least the next half-century because we have laid the foundation for success," Bolden said. "We are not ending human spaceflight. We are recommitting ourselves to it and taking the necessary and difficult steps today to ensure America's pre-eminence in human spaceflight for years to come."
For the next decade, as new programs come on line, the space station will serve as a "centerpiece" for scientific research and as a base to explore deep space, he said.
"It's really an exciting time for science on the space station," said astronaut Mark Kelly, who commanded the Endeavour mission to the space station in May and joined Bolden for the speech. He helped install a spectrometer he says will "revolutionize particle physics."
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