Let's Hear What He Has to Say - The time for trial ballons is up. President Bush gives his big space speech at NASA Headquarters today, and it will be broadcast beginning at 3pm EST on NASA TV and online at www.nasa.gov. Emphasizing the policy announcement, Veep Cheney will visit JPL in Pasadena today to congratulate the Mars Rover crew.

Yesterday's WashTimes had a preview by beat reporters Seitzen and Cowing, who were also the first to break this story. (They note it will be one of Bush's more multilateral endeavors, relying on international cooperation to continue U.S. access to space when the shuttles are retired.) USA Today covered the skeptics. Today's NYT and WaPo phoned in reports from AP and Reuters, but there is a brief historical-perspective piece in the Times Science section. Look for much more coverage in tomorrow's dailies.

As an aside, I'd like to thank you for all the comments on my last post on this topic as well as other recent Bhaus posts. It's really gratifying to debate, instead of just listening to me or Ben pontificate. (Honest!)

Update: The speech is done. A White House fact sheet can be found here. FYI, Bush only asked for $1 billion in new money over the next five years -- less than the five percent increase pundits were expecting. Since he plans to reallocate $11 billion from existing authorizations during the same period, my guess is he wants Congress to fight out whether any of their pet programs are saved from the chopping block, and if so, blame Capitol Hill for any excesses in the program's cost.