His plan may not go to the moon, but it would go beyond the moon by sending astronauts to Mars during his lifetime, Obama predicted. “I expect to be around to see it,” he told an audience at the Kennedy Space Center.

The president received polite applause but no cheers from the crowd of 200, which included workers whose livelihoods will be directly affected by his plans.

To those who complain about cutting manned missions to the moon, he had a specific message.

“The simple fact is, we have been there before. There is a lot more space to explore, and a lot more to learn when we do,” he said.

Obama professed his personal interest in space exploration and stressed his commitment to it as president, saying, “I am 100 percent committed to the mission of NASA and its future.”

At the same time, he made the case that the current space programs are out of date and need to be revamped. “The challenges facing our space program are different, and our imperatives for this program are different than in decades past,” Obama said.

But he also defended his program by ticking off the criticisms of his plan. One by one, he listed a critique and defended himself against it.

“These questions come at a time of transition, as the space shuttle nears its scheduled retirement after almost 30 years of service. This adds to the worry of folks concerned not only about their own futures, but about the future of a space program to which they have devoted their lives,” Obama said.

And he backhandedly blamed Washington for people’s concerns about his plan. “I also know that underlying these concerns is a deeper worry, one that precedes not only this plan but this administration. It stems from the sense that folks in Washington — driven less by vision than by politics — have for years neglected NASA’s mission and undermined the work of the professionals who fulfill it,” Obama said.

“That has to change. And with the strategy I’m outlining today, it will,” Obama said, noting that NASA’s budget will increase by $6 billion over the next five years.

The president had initially planned to cut NASA’s shuttle replacement program in his 2011 budget, drawing fire from Democrats and Republicans in Florida, but he backed off this week and promised a compromise that would add 2,500 jobs along the Space Coast.

He said that his administration will extend the life of the International Space Station and that he disagrees with those who say the U.S. should not partner, as he proposes, with private industry on missions to space.

Obama made his attempt at political damage control in Florida’s Space Coast, where NASA policy is a way of life.

Obama, who headed from the Kennedy Space Center to Miami for two Democratic National Committee fundraisers, brought White House political director Patrick Gaspard with him on the trip.

The White House moved to quell controversy after Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, released a statement critical of Obama’s approach.

Officials quickly circulated a supportive statement from astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who was on Armstrong’s Apollo 11 mission and also walked on the moon. Aldrin traveled to Florida with Obama on Air Force One.

Obama repeatedly pointed out the controversy in his 20-minute remarks.

“Some have had harsh words for the decisions we’ve made, including individuals for whom I have enormous respect and admiration,” Obama said, in an apparent reference to Armstrong. “But what I hope is that these folks will take another look, consider the details we’ve laid out and see the merits as I’ve described them today.”