Huntress: Constellation Neither Inspirational Nor Challenging, New Plan is "Sensible"

In an interview with Jim Oberg for IEEE Spectrum, Wes Huntress praised President Obama’s new plan for human spaceflight. The Constellation program, he said, was “neither inspirational nor sufficiently challenging for a space program as storied as America’s” since it was focused on doing what we already did 40 years ago. As for future human exploration of the Moon, he added: “Others may go there and follow in our footsteps of long ago. Best of luck to them.”

Huntress is a highly respected space scientist who served as NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science in the early-mid 1990s and later was Director of the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory. He has been involved in a number of efforts to articulate a vision for the future of the space program both domestically and internationally. In the interview, he noted the similarity between the new plan and two studies in which he was involved: “The Next Steps in Exploring Deep Space,” published by the International Academy of Astronautics in early 2004, and a 2008 Planetary Society report “Beyond the Moon: A New Roadmap for Human Space Exploration in the 21st Century.”

Saying he and others who advocated a step-by-step approach to Mars were “gratified” when the President announced it, arguing that it is “the most sensible option even if it is not the easiest option politically, given Constellation’s entrenchment.” He did allow, however, regarding commercial crew, that “perhaps we need a government option as well as a commercial one to reduce risk and have backup options….” He also did not rule out an eventual American return to the Moon, as long as it is not “diversionary” from the primary goal of sending humans to Mars.