How to Budget Spending for the Vision for Space Exploration by NASA

When President Bush announced the initiative to transform NASA from a high tech, space taxi service into a latter day “Corps of Discovery” to take people back to the Moon, on to Mars, and beyond, a question was left unanswered.  How can the program be politically sustained over several decades and over a number of Presidential administrations and Congresses?

Robert Walker, former member of Congress and member of the Aldridge Commission charged with coming up with a plan to implement the President’s initiative, said that for the initiative to become reality, "there has to be a public acceptance and a congressional buy-in.”  Otherwise, if the initiative fails, he warned, "it will be another 20 or 30 years before another President will step out to make a statement again.”