The Commanders' Letter

According to NBC News, Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11, James Lovell, commander of Apollo 13, and Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17 and-- so far-- the last human to stand on the lunar surface, have jointly sent a letter to President Obama in which they argue NASA needs to have an ongoing human spaceflight program if the U. S. is to maintain its leadership in space.

It should also be noted that Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, lunar module pilot with Armstrong on Apollo 11 and a space activist for many years since, has publicly supported the Obama plan.

The letter is a response to the eminent ending of the space shuttle program and the cancellation of the Constellation program in favor of relying on so far unproven private space vehicles-- or the Russian Soyuz-- to carry U. S. astronauts to orbit and back. That approach would leave NASA with no means of flying manned missions on its own, and, the commanders argue in their letter, the experience and technical expertise developed in flying consistently is crucial to successfully executing missions with a margin of safety.

There is some indication the President will support continued development of a less capable Orion capsule. The new version would be used as a crew rescue vehicle attached to ISS-- a spacecraft, therefore, that would hopefully never be used-- instead of as a moonship. Such a craft would not answer the commanders' letter.