FACT CHECK #GH4I8XVA

WHAT WE FOUND

While it is true that the United States lost its domestic capability to launch astronauts into space during the Obama administration, the claim that he terminated this ability is misleading as it ignores the context of a planned transition. The retirement of the Space Shuttle program was actually ordered by President George W. Bush in 2004, not Obama 1 7. Although Obama did cancel the Constellation program (the Shuttle's intended successor) in 2010, he did so to shift NASA's focus and funding toward commercial spacecraft development and deep-space missions, such as a crewed asteroid mission 4 7 8. High-credibility sources note that claims suggesting Obama 'ruined' or ended the space program are exaggerations, as his administration provided the initial funding for the private-sector partnerships that eventually restored American launch capabilities 2 3 4. During the resulting multi-year gap, NASA relied on Russian Soyuz rockets to transport astronauts to the International Space Station 2 3. While Apollo-era pioneers like Neil Armstrong criticized the move as 'devastating' to American leadership in deep space, the policy was a strategic shift toward commercialization rather than a termination of human spaceflight 10 11.

SOURCES

1. 1 · politifact.comFACT-CHECKER
   PolitiFact | Chain e-mail claims Obama is first president to "terminate America’s ability to put a man in space"

   TIER A

2. 2 · detroitnews.comFACT-CHECKER
   Fact check: Trump says he saved space program after Obama

   TIER A

3. 3 · apnews.comFACT-CHECKER
   AP FACT CHECK: Trump claim of saving space program off base | AP News

   TIER A

4. 4 · science.orgACADEMIC
   Obama Proposes Ending NASA's Human Space-Flight Program | Science | AAAS

   TIER A

5. 5 · en.wikipedia.orgWEB
   Space policy of the Obama administration - Wikipedia

   TIER B

6. 6 · thehill.comWEB
   How Barack Obama ruined NASA space exploration

   TIER B

7. 7 · csmonitor.comWEB
   Why Obama rejected John Glenn's plea to save the space shuttle progam - CSMonitor.com

   TIER B

8. 8 · space.comWEB
   Obama Says Last Space Shuttle Launch Ends One Era, But Opens Another

   TIER B

9. 9 · linkedin.comWEB
   Plausibility of an Obama Administration Human Space Flight Legacy

   TIER B

10. 10 · arabnews.comWEB
    Armstrong over space program abandonment | Arab News

    TIER B

11. 11 · spacenews.comWEB
    Obama Eroding JFK's Space Legacy, Apollo Pioneers Say [USA Today] - SpaceNews

    TIER B