I've been through the emotion and the frustration of this for the past 20 years. NASA never seemed to get the funding it needed to carry on its missions, and NASA never got positive press even when things went right. Mostly, the space program was largely ignored.<br /><br />In this case, with the SOU, and Pres. Bush, I would not jump too quickly to the conclusion that space not being mentioned equates to a lack of support for the program. The VSE was announced by him, not as a program per se, but as a vision into which individual programs needed to serve. <br /><br />The VSE is not just a single program, but will be many, some funded, and some not funded. Certainly the CEV and the ESAS are a part of accomplishing the VSE, as well as LRO in 2008, Stardust, Cassini, MER, and other robotic missions. Even the Shuttle and ISS are a part of the overall strategy for accomplishing the vision. <br /><br /> However, if Shuttle falls on its face becasue another piece of foam comes of the ET, that doesn't necessarily mean that the VSE is dead or unachievable. <br /><br />If CEV and ESAS doesn't get funded, then that is more critical, unless there is an alternative architecture to be presented.<br /><br />The Vision for Space Exploration calls for getting back to the Moon, going to Mars, and Beyond. The task is finding finding and funding programs to acheive it.<br /><br />Also, there is Bi-Partisan support for the VSE in Congress, and the Congress endorsed the VSE as national space policy in their last NASA authorization bill, signed into law by President Bush. So, in the SOU, there really was no real pressing need to bring it up. It already has congressional support, and their work on the authorization bill has been completed. In the FY 2007 budget, manned space remained at the same level to support the Shuttle, ISS, and the developement of the CEV and ESAS. In actuality, all seems to be on track for manned spaceflight.