Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt joins congressional group pushing NASA to return to moon
By Lee Roop | AL.com | April 10, 2013

WASHINGTON -- Hours before the release of President Obama's 2014 budget proposal reportedly calling for NASA to begin planning to capture an asteroid, a group in Congress is telling NASA instead to focus on returning to the moon. U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, is one of the sponsors of the legislation "directing NASA to develop a plan for returning to the moon and establishing a human presence there," in the words of a press release issued April 10.

President Obama's budget, scheduled to be posted on the federal Office of Management and Budget website at 10:15 a.m CDT, reportedly calls on NASA to spend $100 million to begin work on the asteroid mission. The president has expressed no interest in returning to the moon. "We've been there," he said at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2010. "There's a lot more space to explore."

"Moon missions, both human and robotic, offer the United States true international cooperation, while ensuring that we lead from the front," Aderholt said in the press release. "Other nations, private industry, and government experts all regard the moon as the right place for NASA to direct its resources."

"To date, twelve Americans have explored a section of our moon smaller than the National Mall," the representatives' press release said. "There are many minerals, isotopes, and other natural resources that can be gleaned from the "moon's surface such as ice deposits, which can be used to sustain an outpost or produce rocket propellant for deep space exploration."

Other than Aderholt, sponsors of the legislation, which is called the "RE-asserting American Leadership in Space Act, or REAL Space Act," include U.S. Reps Bill Posey (R-FL), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Frank Wolf (R-VA), John Culberson (R-TX), Steve Stockman (R-TX), Pete Olson (R-TX), Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Ted Poe (R-TX).

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