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30th Anniversary of The Planetary Society
  

Projects

Space Advocacy

March, 2010: The Administration's bold proposal for the future of NASA has come under attack from special interests and their representatives in Congress. They are trying to chip away at this bold new program and go back to "business as usual," leaving us stuck in Earth orbit for another decade or more.

The Planetary Society is determined not to let this happen. Join our fight for NASA's future!

Times were hard in the U.S. space program in the late 1970s: the spectacular Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo flights were already in the past, and the future seemed uncertain. The shuttle had not yet taken flight, but its soaring costs were all but choking off the robotic exploration program that had begun so promisingly. It was in these circumstances that Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman joined together to form The Planetary Society. Their goal: to bring together the millions of space enthusiasts around the world, and turn them into a powerful political force advocating space exploration.

The Planetary Society has done many, many different things since those early days. But space advocacy has remained at the core of the Society's mission, and its impact was felt right from the start. Already in 1981, when Congressional funding for NASA's SETI program was threatened with cancellation, the Society stepped in and helped ensure SETI funding for the next eleven years.

More recently the Society repeatedly called upon its members and friends to support a mission to Pluto, the only planet in our Solar System not visited by man-made spacecraft. Funding for the mission was cut time after time in consecutive budget cycle, only to be restored after vigorous letter writing and advocacy campaigns by The Planetary Society. New Horizons finally lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on its way to Pluto on January 19, 2006. Through the "Aim for Mars" campaign the Society has brought public opinion to bear in favor of a human mission to Mars, and in support of the Administration's Vision for Space Exploration.

Relying on its unique expertise and extensive connections, the Society is able to present comprehensive proposals to policy makers, and inject fresh ideas into policy discussions. As part of the "Aim for Mars" campaign , for example, Society officers have testified before Congress promoting an innovative plan to use robotic "Way Stations" on the Moon and Mars as stepping stones towards a human Mars mission. The Society also commissioned a groundbreaking study, which outlined a realistic and cost-effective plan for landing humans on Mars within two decades. When Michael Griffin, one of the report's lead authors, became NASA administrator, the study became an important source for the shaping of NASA policies.

Space advocacy has been at the core of the Society's mission from the start, and continues to be so today. Together, The Planetary Society, its members, and its supporters, can help shape the space policies of tomorrow.