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CLEARFIELD -- The first man to walk on the moon 40 years ago blasted the nation's current space program Thursday as an embarrassment.
Neil Armstrong and veteran Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan called on Congress Thursday to recapture a leadership role for America in space.
"Our choices are to lead, try to keep up or get out of the way," said Armstrong.
And Utah has a stake in the discussion following a NASA announcement last week that was very good news for ATK.
At least 800 ATK workers are directly involved in developing a new space vehicle. There was a sigh of relief last week when NASA unveiled its far-reaching concept that could take astronauts back to the moon or even Mars.
Strapped on the sides of the new vehicle are the familiar ATK booster rockets that have been seen on the space shuttle for a third of a century.
"We are very excited that they announced it," said ATK Director of Advanced Launch System Joe Oliva. "We're excited and grateful that we are part of that."
But, unfortunately, the proposed plan will not bring an influx of jobs to the state.
We're excited that this could stabilize the work force where we're at.
–Joe Oliva
"Not at least in the short run," Oliva said. "We're excited that this could stabilize the work force where we're at."
NASA plans only two test flights in the next ten years. In the 2020s, NASA will open it up for competition to see what companies can come up with the best system to get more power. NASA needs 40 percent more thrust to get the spacecraft to low Earth orbit.
"More thrust is needed because if we're going to explore outside low Earth orbit, you have to put up a lot of hardware -- a lot of fuel to get out of orbit," Oliva said.
ATK is confident they can improve their boosters and hold their head up in the competition a decade from now. But there's a big problem. Many critics, including Neil Armstrong, think the nation has lost its way and has no clear mission in mind for the next generation of spacecraft.
"This condition is viewed by many as lamentably embarrassing and unacceptable," Armstrong said.
"Today, we are in a path of decay," Cernan said. "We are seeing the books closed on five decades of accomplishment as the leader in human space exploration."
It is not yet clear if Washington will back a mission to Mars or the moon and to jeep it on track.
"Budget is a real thing here," lamented Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California. "We believe in visions and dreams, but we have to have real line budgets or those dreams will never come into reality."
NASA's new launch system give ATK hope, but no real security.
Email: hollenhorst@ksl.com
