That Vision Thing Update
"But I made it very clear to you that there are no plans to make any policy announcements on our space program at any immediate upcoming speeches."
From Space.com (which, you can see in the URL, has title the file "Moon Bush")
From Spaceflight Now
From Space Daily
But, on the other hand:
"Editor's note: I stand by our stories. Stay tuned."--Keith Cowling, NASA Watch, which today links to several interesting stories saying the exact opposite of the McClellan comments.
And, those comments are worth taking a look at. It's been well established that this administration hates leaks and loves surprises. So, hypothetically, let's pretend that an announcement was in the works for either Dec. 17, or, even better for this exercise, the State Of The Union address, which will be held around the Apollo 204, 51-L, and STS-107 (or Apollo I, Challenger and Columbia) disaster anniversaries, and that, going out on a limb, the administration doesn't want to disclose what will be announced yet.
We establish right away that the president is planning a new space initiative. McClellan then says that it's premature to say what that is. Well, if it's supposed to be a "surprise," then, natch, it's too early to say it.
McClellan then says, "There are no plans for any policy announcements in the immediate future and that would include any upcoming speeches."
But, does that completely rule out a near-term announcement?
Well, not really, because "Well, as you know, I don't announce events this far in advance."
Are the reports about a lunar initiative false? Well, um...
"Those reports are not coming out of the White House."
But are they false?
"...if you want to follow those reports, that's certainly your prerogative, but I encourage you not to..."
But are they false?
"Our interagency review of space exploration is ongoing, so it's premature to get into any speculation about some of that space policy."
So, if they were true, could McClellan tell us that?
"...you're asking me to, kind of, jump ahead of an interagency review process that's going on to make recommendations and then the president will make some decisions to determine the future direction of space exploration."
So, what can you say about how the President feels?
"I think you've heard the president talk about the importance of space exploration, the importance of continuing our journey into space. He remains strongly committed to those efforts. And you can look back at his budget and his proposals that he has made."
Also, this USA Today story is interesting (I don't think it's among the other links--if so, I apologize).
Also, suffice it to say that the multitude of links posted here, is just a small fraction of what's been said about this in the media just yesterday and today. In the last couple of days, this has mushroomed from being insider speculation to true public discussion, and has become an entity of its own, something that will be discussed and must be dealt with.

:: :: 09:22 :: David :: [permalink] ::