In a guest blog post at Space News, Dr. John Logsdon tries to make the case that the new human space flight plan outlined by the Obama Administration is…well, The End of the Apollo Era Finally. If only things were that simple.
Dr. Logsdon notes in the second-to-last paragraph of his post that the roll-out of the White House’s new space policy was a gross failure. He seems to imply that, but for such a failed policy roll-out, the policy would have been accepted. Still, he notes, “[g]oing back to the drawing board and starting over on a modified strategy as the next budget is announced does not seem to me to be an option.”, though he never clarifies why such is the case. He concludes by starting his final paragraph stating that “[t]he time is now for ending the era of Apollo.”
It never seems to occur to Dr. Logsdon that perhaps, just perhaps, the whole of the Obama human space flight policy is itself failed; that its failed roll-out is but a reflection of the greater failure. And it never seems to cross his mind that perhaps it’s time to consider the need for to re-learn how to focus. It is not as though our international competitors are sitting back, so why should the United States when it comes to space exploration?