NASA and Congress are embroiled in a political battle over the next generation of human space flight. A compromise last year between Congress and the White House determined that private companies will use their spacecraft to launch astronauts to the International Space Station and NASA will develop heavy-lift vehicles for deep space manned missions. But the plan could take almost double the $11 billion allocated and need more time as well.

On 1290 WLBY’s re:New Michigan segment with Eiler Communications CEO Larry Eiler, we talked with former NASA astronaut Jack Lousma. Now 75 years old, the 1954 graduate of Ann Arbor High School remains proud that he was a Pioneer long before he became a pioneer of space exploration.

Col. Lousma: We were the Pioneers even back then at the school that became Pioneer High School.

Lucy Ann: In 1966, you were selected for the NASA program. What was the highlight for you?

Col. Lousma: The two space flights. One with the Skylab Space Station- it was a lengthy flight but the record was soon surpassed. Now they are staying up there for four to six months. Then the shuttle flight I flew, which was a third test flight of the ship Columbia. We’re the guys that landed at White Sands. It was the first time and it looks like the last.

Lucy Ann: The future of NASA human space flight is uncertain. It’s clear in the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 that we should be developing the human space flight program, yet NASA maintains that the administration’s budget does not support this. What is NASA’s future?

Col. Lousma: It’s been kicked in the slats by the administration. NASA had planned to go back to the Moon and eventually to Mars but that was cut back by the administration with no reasonable substitute. We are going to shut down the shuttle program pretty soon. Hopefully Congress will save the program for us after 50 years of excellence and accomplishments. It’s just been cut to the knees -- people being laid off, people who have been doing great things.

Larry Eiler: All the technology transfer that’s come out of these different programs is now in commercial use, and it has been amazing to watch how companies like Honeywell and McDonnell Douglas do this. Col. Lousma: I remember how criticized we were when the Apollo program was just getting off the ground and NASA had all these good reasons for it, but nobody had the foresight to know what could develop: The Internet, computers in every home, computers in every pocket, cell phones, and the medical technologies we have to help people. The NASA budget is around $19 billion, which is only a 10th of what the government gave AIG to bail them out. I am confident the NASA program will rise again, but Congress needs to do something. We are going through a hard time now because there is not enough for the space crews to do and people are getting laid off all around the country. We are most likely going to lose the best people first.

Larry Eiler: When I worked at Honeywell for a few years, the technology that was developed on the Viking Lander mission to help control the Viking when it landed on Mars -- the whole flight control system, steering and navigation - all ended up in commercial use. Honeywell had a big aerospace defense business, but it was only $1 billion a year for a $6 billion company. So they could take some of that technology and move it into commercial application in their computer business. A lot of other companies have also had that type of experience.

Col. Lousma: They have also spun off a lot of new small companies that have contributed to high technology, a lot of them in Ann Arbor.

Lucy Ann: Are you still doing some consulting, Jack?

Col. Lousma: Every once in a while. I am on the board of the Michigan Business Aviation Association, so that keeps me in touch with airplanes. I also do some work with NASA and some of their contractors.

Lucy Ann: What is your impression of U.S. aviation today? The increase in terrorism and beefed up security have greatly impacted air travel.

Col. Lousma: There are a lot of planes that are not commercial in the air everyday. Private and corporate aviation, which are the kind of things we want to support as well. They don’t have as many of those kinds of (security) problems. Business aviation has grown remarkably. There are a lot of corporate fleets across the country and here in Ann Arbor, and that brings back a whole lot more than is put into it.

Lucy Ann: Where do you stand on the possibility of expanding the runway at the City of Ann Arbor Airport?

Col. Lousma: I put in a pitch for a longer runway. People buy homes around the airport, they complain about the airport, and then want the airport to be blamed for their bad decision-making which is just wrong. There is a lot of business that comes to Ann Arbor through the airport, but that comes from people who have airplanes here. It’s in Ann Arbor’s and Michigan’s best interest and we ought to support it.

Lucy Ann: Tell us about the people in the space program today and what they are doing.

Col. Lousma: Part of the program is going commercial and NASA is encouraging the private sector to take over and get people into space and get them to the space station and haul equipment there. NASA is not a transportation organization. It is an exploration and discovery organization, and wants to pass that off to the private sector like it has done with so many things, such as satellites and rockets. It has been making a great profit doing that. They’d also like to pass off space transportation, which is coming along pretty well. There are a couple of companies that have the edge on that and one day in the distant future we will be giving astronauts flights up to the space station and back in private sector rockets rather than having to buy seats from the Russians, which we have to do now for $63 million a seat. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. So, NASA is encouraging this so it can get on with its own business of exploration and discovery. That is why it wants the heavy booster, capsule, and eventually a lander that will go on the moon and learn to live in a remote place for a long period of time and take that technology and then go to Mars. Someday our kids will be on Mars in just a three year trip, and I wish I could be there to do it with them.

Lucy Ann: Who are these companies that might be on the leading edge of doing that?

Col. Lousma: There is one called Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, headed up by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, an entrepreneur who made his own rocket company. He owns capsules, he’s flown them in orbit above the earth, and he’s configuring them so they can be safely used by people. The other is Orbital Sciences Corporation and they have been very successful and profitable as a private space company. They have had a head start and other companies are competing with them, as well. The competition is good.

Lucy Ann: Would you like to go back up in Space?

Col. Lousma: Sure, I just don’t want to spend three years preparing for it!

Lucy Ann Lance is co-owner of Lance & Erskine Communications, which produces “The Lucy Ann Lance Business Insider” and “The Lucy Ann Lance Show” on 1290 WLBY. The programs are live streamed at www.1290WLBY.com and podcast on www.lucyannlance.com. Listen to the entire interview with Jack Lousma posted on her website.