State View:
Trump could make U.S. top space nation.
“It’s a real shame that our politicians threw away the sacrifice and accomplishments of the Apollo moon landings.”
Those words had been spoken to me by Gene Cernan — the last human to walk on the moon and the personification of a true American hero.
He was a man who believed we never should have abandoned the moon because of the role it could play in science, mining and national security.
He and I, along with tens of other people, had been invited to NASA headquarters on Jan. 14, 2004, to hear the latest presidential “vision” for space — this one by President George W. Bush.
I had met with and interviewed Cernan years earlier for a book I wrote about the 12 men who walked on the moon, and I had spoken with him a number of times in between. Coincidentally, we found ourselves sitting close to each other in the auditorium.
He knew my strong views on the value of Americans on the moon and I knew his.
Because we were seated just down the street from Congress and were about to hear from the president of the United States, the conversation immediately turned to the lack of political direction and support for our human spaceflight program.
It had been 32 years since Cernan left the last boot-print on the surface of the moon — an American boot-print embedded there thanks only to American genius, American sacrifice and political will.
In his remarks, Bush not only acknowledged Cernan, but quoted from the last words Cernan had spoken from the moon in December 1972: “We leave as we came, and God willing as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.”
Bush stressed that it was his intention to “… make those words come true,” with his announced desire to return the United States “to the moon by 2020.”
Welcome words, but hollow nonetheless.
While Bush may have meant it, there was next to no support from Congress.
And then, four years later, came President Barack Obama — a man who, while campaigning for president in 2007, made it clear that he had little or no use for the American manned space program. While president, he basically ended that program.
The one thing Obama did do right with regard to space was to select Charles Bolden as his NASA administrator. Bolden, like Cernan, was a true American hero and an exceptional role model. A man who rose to the rank of major general in the U.S. Marine Corps, Bolden was a highly decorated pilot and a space-shuttle astronaut.
And while Bolden might strongly and understandably disagree with me, he was made the administrator of a national space agency going nowhere. In fact, it can be legitimately argued that NASA went backward under the leadership of Obama.
And now, President Donald J. Trump has finally picked the 13th administrator of NASA. He settled on Congressman James Bridenstine of Oklahoma.
Bridenstine is an outstanding choice for a variety of critically important reasons: Not only is he a Naval aviator who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee, but he believes it imperative that America return to the moon.
That day in 2004, Gene Cernan stressed to me that “without real presidential and congressional belief and leadership, we have no future in space.” How right he was. Now, it’s President Trump’s turn. Will he step up like President John F. Kennedy? Or close a door to our future like President Obama?
He has the chance to not only make the United States the preeminent nation in space once again but to transform the destiny of humanity.
The United States must become the pre-eminent nation in space again for reasons of national security. Both Russia and the People’s Republic of China have declared their intention to establish bases on the moon.
As pending Administrator Bridenstine understands, China’s space program is a military program. Period. China seeks military dominance from Earth orbit to the surface of the moon.
We must challenge China in order to protect our assets in space.
Beyond national security comes legacy.
Walls, lower taxes and higher employment all matter. But to create a permanent American presence on the moon and utilize it as the first steppingstone to the treasures of our solar system would be an accomplishment celebrated forever.
Trump can now be the president who finally builds on the sacrifice and accomplishments of the Apollo program while creating a lasting legacy in the process.
It’s time to go back to the moon … to stay.