“The space shuttle program has yielded some extraordinary scientific discoveries, but I think it’s fair to say that there’s been a sense of drift to our space program over the last several years. We need to restore that sense of excitement and interest that existed around the space program. Shaping a mission for NASA that is appropriate for the 21st century is going to be one of the biggest tasks of my new NASA director. Once we have that vision, then I think that it’s going to be much easier to build support for expanding our space efforts. What I don’t what NASA to do is just limp along.”
— President Obama 8 months ago
