One of the last men to walk on the moon argued Monday that President Barack Obama’s administration’s proposed cancellation of a key space program will lead to the disappearance of United States space flight and leave NASA as nothing more than a space science agency.

Speaking to more than 250 people in Engineering Hall, astronaut Harrison Schmitt said the Constellation Program had planned a U.S. return to the moon in the near future, “followed by more space exploration.” In February, however, the Obama administration recommended Constellation be canceled, which Schmitt attributed to the fact many citizens and lawmakers in the U.S. are currently unwilling to take risks.

Although he blames the Bush administration for not funding Constellation after its conception in 2004, Schmitt said he does not support the Obama administration’s proposal.

“I think the administration has already demonstrated to us that it wants America to be second best and that we are not exceptional,” he said. “They also seem to think the Constitution is just a piece of paper, and in foreign, defense, economic and now space station policies I think you see confirmation of this.”

As a member of the Apollo 17 crew, Schmitt said humans have a natural instinct for exploration.

“I think very strongly [exploration] keeps America at the forefront of human history — where if we’re not at the forefront of human history, then I would argue that liberty itself is at risk,” Schmitt said.

Pointing to the advantages of human space exploration versus robotic exploration, Schmitt said the brain, eyes and hands are important. He added jokingly that future engineers in attendance should redesign the glove on the space suit because it made exploring the moon difficult.

Speaking as a scientist as well as an astronaut, Schmitt also said one lesson from Apollo was the discovery of the moon as a historical record of both the inner and outer solar system.

“[The moon] is the only guide we really have to early history of the Earth and Mars, because on Earth, that early history has almost totally been erased … this was far more than we ever expected to have happen,” he said.

The UW student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics sponsored the lecture, which AIAA President and UW senior Ben Conrad said he hoped would bring a different perspective to students and the Madison community.

“It’s very interesting for us because we’re students, we’re graduating right now, we’re going into this industry,” Conrad said.

The turnout pleased Conrad, especially since people nearly filled the 280-seat auditorium.

UW juniors David Hamann and Jon Jaeger said they decided to attend the lecture because of Schmitt’s experience as an astronaut.

Despite having found the talk “interesting, but fairly one-sided,” Jaeger said he agrees the U.S. needs to commit to human space exploration, but would like to do more research on it.

Hamann said Schmitt’s prediction about the future of NASA caught his attention most.

“Cutting what I would call our premier science organization, a company that I dreamed about working for as a kid … doesn’t really make sense to me,” Hamann said.