With the fortunes of Cleveland’s NASA Glenn Research Center now heavily tied to President Bush’s plan to send astronauts to the moon and Mars, the upcoming election has the center’s employees and supporters watching for hints of the direction either candidate might take the nation’s space program. So far, both Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama have staked out positions that sound hopeful for the once-faltering Glenn center, and for the overall American space effort. In unusual detail for a presidential campaign, each candidate has pledged support for the moon- Mars exploration goal. Obama and McCain have promised, in principle, to provide the billions it will take to build new spacecraft, establish a permanent moon base, and propel astronauts to the rusty, intriguing surface of Mars.

Sen. Barack Obama released a comprehensive space policy Saturday that endorsed sending astronauts back to the moon by 2020 as a possible precursor for going to Mars -- the first time he has committed to that goal -- and said the reach for the stars should be a U.S.-led international effort. "Human exploration beyond low-earth orbit should be a long-term goal and investment for all space-faring countries, with America in the lead," the policy paper said. The paper promises funding for an additional flight after the space shuttle's planned retirement in 2010 and to "expedite" development of a successor. But beyond promising funding to "minimize" the gap until a new rocket flies -- now not scheduled until 2015 -- the plan makes no specific financial commitment.

When Sen. John McCain comes to the Space Coast on Monday, he might not realize that his visit resulted from a year-long effort by members of the aerospace industry in Brevard County. Facing a loss of thousands of jobs when the space shuttle stops flying in 2010, county leaders last year mounted a far-reaching lobbying effort and used all their political contacts to elevate the future of America's human space flight program to a national issue. The diligence has begun to pay off, as both presidential candidates have made promises that Floridians plan to make sure they keep.

Senators John McCain and Barack Obama will send representatives to a space policy debate this week. The presidential candidates' representatives will meet Thursday to discuss how their administrations will fund, prioritize, and advance space policy over the next several years. "This will be a perfect opportunity for the campaigns to articulate their policies," Mars Society Executive Director Chris Carberry said in an announcement. "The next president will be in a unique position to move the space program forward. Space policy could also be key in the election; many of the 'space states' are too close to call in recent polls." McCain will send Apollo VII astronaut Walt Cunningham and Obama will send former NASA Associate Administrator Lori Garver to speak on the candidates' behalf. The Mars Society will host the debate at the University Memorial Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Attendance is free and the event is open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Reserved seating is available for groups. The debate will take place during the 11th Annual International Mars Society Convention, which begins Thursday and ends Aug. 17. During the convention, industry leaders will review the latest developments from the Phoenix Mars Lander and recent data from the Cassini-Huygens mission orbiting Saturn.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established 50 years ago today by the aptly named National Aeronautics and Space Act. NASA began operations on October 1, 1958, with a staff of 80 spread among four laboratories. The agency now consists of 15 facilities that employed more than 17,000 people in 2006, according to Best Places to Work. The agency's mission statement since 2006 has been "to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research."

One issue the presidential candidates are not saying much about is space exploration. But some scientists, military experts and intelligence analysts say the next president may well determine whether America keeps an edge in space. Last year, the United States managed 16 space launches; Russia had 22; China blasted off 10. Their space program is still behind, says Robert Zubrin, one of America's strongest proponents for Mars travel, but it is rocketing.

Next January will mark the fourth anniversary of President George W. Bush’s speech at NASA Headquarters that unveiled the Vision for Space Exploration, the long-term plan that gave the space agency a new direction, away from the space shuttle and space station and towards a human return to the Moon and, eventually, human missions to Mars. At that time the announcement drew comparisons to the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), the last major effort by a president to reshape the direction of NASA, with corresponding concerns that the Vision would meet a similar, unfortunate fate. Yet the Vision is alive and well today (despite some concerns about its implementation), while SEI had effectively been dead long before it could reach its fourth anniversary. What caused SEI to fail, and what lessons did its failure provide future initiatives, like the Vision? These are questions explored in depth by Thor Hogan’s history of SEI, Mars Wars. The book (which can be ordered for $15 from NASA’s web site or read online for free) is, at its core, a thorough history of the SEI.

Last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice, and Science recommended an increase of over $280 million above the requested level for NASA. However, within this budget markup, there is language that would prevent work on programs devoted to humans to Mars. According to a House Appropriations Committee press release, the markup language states that NASA cannot pursue “development or demonstration activity related exclusively to Human Exploration of Mars. NASA has too much on its plate already, and the President is welcome to include adequate funding for the Human Mars Initiative in a budget amendment or subsequent year funding requests." THIS ANTI-MARS LANGUAGE MUST BE REMOVED! Otherwise, the program may turn into MOON ONLY program. We can't let that happen.

The choice to reduce science spending by $2 billion over the next five years is a last resort, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin told concerned members of Congress on Thursday. But it's a necessary sacrifice to make sure the shuttles can safely fly enough missions to finish building the International Space Station before retirement in 2010, he said. The space agency delayed or canceled science projects only after making equally painful cuts -- about $1.5 billion worth -- to early work on new rockets, spaceships and other technology necessary to send astronauts back to the moon. One result of those cuts: the proposed shuttle replacement, called the Crew Exploration Vehicle, may not be ready to fly astronauts until 2013 or 2014 rather than two years earlier as Griffin once hoped.

The U.S. Senate approved a $200 million budget increase for NASA Thursday, giving the U.S. space agency most of the funding it needs to get started on a new lunar exploration plan to be unveiled Monday. The NASA funding was approved as part of a $48.9 billion spending bill that also funds the Justice and Commerce Departments. Of that amount, NASA would receive $16.4 billion for 2006, about $60 million less than the agency requested but $200 million more than it had to spend this year.

The House Friday overwhelmingly endorsed President Bush's vision to send man back to the moon and eventually on to Mars as it passed a bill to set NASA policy for the next two years. The bill passed 383-15 after a collegial debate in which lawmakers stressed their commitment to not just Bush's ambitious space exploration plans but also to traditional NASA programs such as science and aeronautics.

Michael Griffin didn’t mind it too much when U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay called him a “space nerd.” In fact, the new head of NASA seemed to relish in the nickname given to him last month on his first official visit to the Johnson Space Center. Just two months into his job as NASA administrator, Griffin has already made his mark. Management shake-ups have come quickly at the agency, which is often slow to change.

Things are looking up again at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans after a tumultuous 2‰ years. The future of the 832-acre production plant and its 2,100 employees looked bleak after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry in February 2003.

NASA’s Mars program could undergo major alternation, driven by budgetary and technical issues, as well as science goals. “We’ve been getting inputs, advice, actions items…from the road mapping teams,” said Doug McCuistion, Mars Exploration Program Director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. “Nothing is finalized at this point. There have been no final decisions made or, frankly, any interim decisions made as yet.”

President Bush proposed a $16.45 billion budget for NASA in 2006 this morning, a 2.4 percent increase over 2005's. The budget includes more than $4.5 billion for the space shuttle program, an increase of $366 million, mostly to cover the costs of the effort required to return the fleet to orbit this spring.