Obama pushes US goal to send humans to Mars by 2030s
The White House was calling attention to government contracts awarded to six companies to build prototypes for “habitats” that could sustain human life in deep space. Obama also said that within two years, private companies like SpaceX and Boeing will taxi astronauts to the space station with NASA as a customer. Alan Ladwig, a former top NASA official in the Obama and Clinton administrations, said he likes the intent, “but it’s a bit late in the term to shine a light on the humans to Mars exploration.” Numerous Government Accountability Office reports have warned of the challenges in meeting that goal, most notable a lack of substantial U.S. government funding “The question is why and how does this support U.S. national interests,” said Scott Pace, a NASA associate administrator during the George W. Bush administration and space policy chief at George Washington University.