Gregory M. Ledet

Last night I sat down and wrote a letter to the members of the House Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics and the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science and Space.  I’ll share that letter with you today.  Please take your time and edit this letter to fit you or write one of your own.  It’s very important that we continue to fund the Constellation Project and all of NASA’s projects so we can continue to send men into space.  The members of the House can be found here, and the members of the Senate can be found here.  You may have to find their contact pages, but it’s not hard to do.

Here’s the letter:

Dear Senator / Congressman,

I’m writing you today concerning the future of manned space flight in the United States.  As a member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Space and Science / House Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, I’m sure you are well aware that the Obama administration has decided to pull funding for the Constellation program from his recommended budget for FY 2011. I know I’m not the only one that thinks that it would be a major mistake to cancel funding for this program and I hope that you feel the same way.

When I was coming to age during the 1980’s, it was right during the start of the Shuttle program.  I dreamed of one day flying on that Space Shuttle and going to space.  I cried on January 28, 1986 as the Challenger disaster occurred, not only because of the death of those 7 astronauts, but also because I thought that my dreams of going to space would now never come to fruition.  I even went to Space Camp in the summer of 1988 as an 11 year old kid with visions of the magnificent desolation that is space in my eyes and an undying love of science and technology in my heart.  Later in life I would have the honor of working for a short time as a contractor at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, LA and at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi as a network engineer.  As you can see, NASA and the US space program have been a part of my life since a very young age.  Years ago I came to terms with the fact that I would never have the opportunity to go to space as an astronaut, but at the same time I always held a small nugget of hope that one day NASA would start handing out medical waivers and I’d have my chance.

With the launch of STS-133 in September, the Space Shuttle program is slated to come to an end.  The Shuttle Program is the only thing my generation has ever experienced when it comes to manned space flight.  The last Apollo mission launched 16 months before I was born and for nearly 6 years there were no manned space flights until the launch of STS-1 in April of 1981.  Constellation is supposed to continue that tradition of sending man into space, but without your help, that program may be in jeopardy.

Constellation is also going to be man’s return to the Moon.  My generation never got to experience man landing on the moon.  We haven’t been there since 1972, and when we went there we did it with a computer (the Apollo Guidance Computer) that had the same computing power of a digital watch.  With today’s technology, just imagine what we could achieve.  Man needs to return to the moon.  It will provide a challenging, shared and peaceful activity to unite nations in pursuit of common objectives, extend human colonization, and expand the economic sphere while conducting research activities that benefit our home planet, not to mention engage the public and students to help develop the high-tech workforce that will be required to address the challenges of tomorrow.

While I can respect the President’s plan to pay private companies to shuttle astronauts to and from the ISS, there are currently no vehicles to do such a thing in the private arena.  While we are talking about ending our manned space program, India is well on their way to starting theirs.  By 2015 a third world country will be putting a man in Low Earth Orbit along with two second world countries and the greatest country on Earth, the United States of America, will be sitting back and watching.

That is why I am writing you and asking that you do whatever is within your power to assure that this program continues.  There has been a 20% drop in NASA spending since 1993 under Presidents Clinton and Bush, and it doesn’t look like President Obama will stray from the path his predecessors have laid.  I don’t think I need to tell you that the President’s budget is just a proposal and it’s up to Congress to approve it.  It is imperative that we continue to fund these programs, not only for the advancement of mankind, but also for the advancement of United States.  I don’t understand why the President wants to change policy that we have established by law not once, but twice.  Please do your part in assuring that Constellation and all future NASA programs receive the funding they deserve.

Sincerely,

Gregory M. Ledet

Here’s a Word Doc format if you want it. NASA letter