2010-04-19 CNN
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Some fast facts to get us going today: I'm Carl Azuz. This is CNN Student News. Fridays are awesome! Today's show is out of this world, or at least, that's where it starts.
First Up: Space Strategy
AZUZ: Space. What parts of it are we going to explore? How much money are we going to spend to get there? President Obama has a new strategy that answers those questions. He talked about it in a speech at the Kennedy Space Center yesterday. The president says he is 100 percent committed to NASA and its mission. He's proposing that the agency get an additional $6 billion over the next 5 years, with a goal of sending humans to Mars by the 2030s.
But under this plan, what you won't see is this: people walking on the moon. President Obama's strategy would cancel plans to send astronauts back there. He says, "We've been there before. There's a lot more of space to explore." Buzz Aldrin, one of the first men to walk on the moon, agrees with the president. But Aldrin's NASA crewmate, Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, disagrees. He's part of a group of astronauts that have criticized the president's plan. Other NASA officials argue that the proposal could cost thousands of people their jobs. The president believes it's a way to move forward.
U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: This is the next chapter that we can write together here at NASA. We will partner with industry; we will invest in cutting-edge research and technology. We will set far-reaching milestones and provide the resources to reach those milestones. And step by step, we will push the boundaries, not only of where we can go, but what we can do.
Mine Safety
AZUZ: The president's also ordering a review of mines that have bad safety records. This comes after last week's tragedy at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. President Obama has criticized the company that owns the mine, specifically because of its safety record. The company called that criticism "regrettable" and said the president may be misinformed about the mine's safety record. Meantime, the governor of West Virginia has asked all of the state's miners to show up for work today. But instead of producing coal, he wants them to spend the day re-evaluating safety procedures.