SEDS Letter on Future of Human Spaceflight

The Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) sent a letter to Congress and the White House yesterday signed by over 250 students from across the United States. The letter begins:

This year, as we celebrate both the fiftieth anniversary of human spaceflight and the accomplishments of the retiring Space Shuttle fleet, the exploration of space remains as critical as ever. Over the past year, many groups have offered their opinions on the best way for the US government to foster space exploration. However, one critical perspective has been missing from this conversation: that of the next generation. We, the signatories of this letter — 280 students from universities and colleges across the nation — are writing you today to ensure that our voice is heard in this ongoing discussion.

We are the ones who will be most affected by the decisions you make today. We are undergraduate and graduate students working hard to prepare ourselves for fulfilling careers as leaders and productive members of the civil, military, and commercial aerospace industries. We are the astronauts, engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

We urge you to consider the following recommendations as you make the key decisions that will chart out the future of our nation’s space program:

The letter goes on to support the partnership between NASA and the emerging commercial human spaceflight sector to enable public access to space and exploration of the solar system.

University students who have not already signed the letter are invited to do so here.