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Obama Praises Mars Rovers, US Science in Speech

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Barack Obama on Stage at National Academy of Sciences
President Barack Obama addressed a crowd of scientists and industry officials at the 150th anniversary of the National Academy of Sciences on April 29, 2013. (Image credit: National Academy of Sciences)

Intrepid rovers on Mars responsible for major scientific discoveries on the Red Planet exemplify what is "best in us," President Barack Obama said today (April 29).

Obama made the remarks during an address to the National Academy of Sciences that marked the organization's 150th anniversary. In the speech, Obama expressed his support for the sciences as a fundamental part of American life in today's world.

Achieving those research goals takes funding, something that the sciences are somewhat short on according to Obama.

"What we produce here ends up having benefits worldwide," Obama said. "We should be reaching for a level of private and public research and development investment that we haven't seen since the height of the space race. That's my goal."

At the moment, however, the sequester — sweeping budget cuts that are expected to hamper scientific research — could make those goals harder to achieve, Obama said.

"It's hitting our scientific research," Obama said. "Instead of racing ahead … our scientists are left wondering if they'll be able to start any new research projects at all, which means we could lose a year, two years, of scientific research."

Many planetary scientists have already come out against NASA's 2014 budget proposal. The new document cuts funding from the space agency by $50 million but advocates say that the new budget, if approved by Congress, represents a $268 million cut from planetary sciences funding.

Hope for the sciences is not lost, Obama added. The next generation of potential scientists gives him hope for the future of the country.

"We don't want our kids to just be consumers of the amazing things that science generates," Obama said. "We want them to be producers as well."

This story was provided by SPACE.com, a sister site to Live Science.  Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter and Google+. Follow us on Twitter, Facebookand Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Miriam Kramer
Miriam Kramer
Miriam Kramer joined Space.com as a staff writer in December 2012. Since then, she has floated in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight, felt the pull of 4-Gs in a trainer aircraft and watched rockets soar into space from Florida and Virginia. She also serves as Space.com's lead space entertainment reporter, and enjoys all aspects of space news, astronomy and commercial spaceflight.  Miriam has also presented space stories during live interviews with Fox News and other TV and radio outlets. She originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee where she and her family would take trips to dark spots on the outskirts of town to watch meteor showers every year. She loves to travel and one day hopes to see the northern lights in person.