Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

President Barack Obama delivers a speech at the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Thursday, April 15, 2010. Obama visited Kennedy Space Center to deliver remarks on a new course the Administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human space flight.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Earlier this week, the White House Office of the Press Secretary released “100 Examples of President Obama’s Leadership in Science, Technology, and Innovation.”

Private sector boosterism is on display as SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk discusses space matters with President Barack Obama at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Courtesy: White House

This Impact Report is admittedly a self examination of Obama’s interest and investment in science and technology, a review that includes a section (#84-87) on “Reinvigorating America’s Space Program,” underscoring efforts and elaborating on such areas as:

• Fostering a burgeoning private space sector.
• Driving down the cost of space exploration, while increasing capabilities for NASA’s journey to Mars.
• Extending the life of the International Space Station (ISS).
• Expanding the capabilities of robotic space missions.

As noted by the Wilson Center: “Of course, only the passage of time will allow for anyone to definitively measure the impact of the Obama White House on science, technology, and innovation, and their impacts on our nation in turn, but, according to the Office of the Press Secretary, we have at least 100 things to be thankful for.”

President Obama looks through a telescope during the 2009 White House Astronomy Night.
Credit: Chuck Kennedy

President Barack Obama meets with Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, right, Carol Armstrong, widow of Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, and Patricia Falcone, OSTP Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs, left, in the Oval Office. This gathering marked the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. July 22, 2014.
Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Furthermore, as the Obama White House folds up shop and the nation decides on the next administration, how the President valued the space program will come under new scrutiny and review.

To read through this IMPACT REPORT: 100 Examples of President Obama’s Leadership in Science, Technology, and Innovation, go to:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/06/21/impact-report-100-examples-president-obamas-leadership-science

Credit: OSTP/White House