NASA abandons plan to fly new spaceships by 2013

Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 8/11/08 | Irene Klotz

[NormsRevenge]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuters) - NASA has abandoned plans to get its replacement for the retiring U.S. space shuttles into service by 2013 because of a lack of additional funds and technical issues, officials said on Monday.

The U.S. space agency had hoped to fly astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a new spaceship called Orion as early as September 2013, well before its formal deadline or goal of March 2015.

"The window of opportunity for us to accelerate Orion has closed," program manager Jeff Hanley at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston told reporters during a conference call.

The United States will be without a means to transport people to and from space after the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010 until the new ships are ready to fly. It intends to rely on Russia to ferry crews to the space station and on private companies to deliver cargo during the gap.

NASA had hoped to minimize the gap, but additional funding to do so has not been approved by the U.S. Congress.

The agency now hopes to be able to fly an Orion crew to the International Space Station by September 2014.

The delay will force NASA to renegotiate several contracts with companies developing equipment and providing services under the "Constellation" program, which has the overall goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2020.

[purpleraine]

Maybe the Chinese will give us a ride.

[Perdogg]

I think the federal govt should abandon NASA. It’s time for privatization.

[randomhero97]

It intends to rely on Russia Appearantly, NASA doesn't keep up with world events.

[purpleraine]

I was thinking the opposite. We should set up international missions back to the moon and on to Mars. This doesn’t call for competition; it calls for cooperation. Split the costs and share the science.

[sionnsar]

I was working at NASA in 1974 when a researcher gloomily remarked (he was known for being gloomy, btw) to me that NASA had just reached a milestone -- they "now had one administrator for every researcher."

34 years later...?

[LiberConservative]

The decline of America continues. This is so sad. Maybe we can give back our “stimulus” checks!? Huh? Huh? Sorry ... silly idea.

[Desron13]

This is pathetic. We have seemingly unlimited funds to spend on every nitwit socialist idiocy that can be imagined under Heaven or Earth, but when it comes to something that might actually help to advance the human condition by leaps and bounds the mini-minds in government can't seem to come up with the minimal amount of money it would take. Sickening.

[NormsRevenge]

Constellation Program

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html

[Smokin' Joe]

It intends to rely on Russia to ferry crews to the space station and on private companies to deliver cargo during the gap.

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

[3D-JOY]

This is especially stupid to rely on Russia...THIS WEEK proves that!

They never met their goals and had to have help and money to get this far in a joint deal...what fools we have in CONGRESS.

[null and void]

I didn’t get a stimulus check.

[gathersnomoss]

Congress is not foolish, as they know exactly what their goals are.

[3D-JOY]

I finally got mine a few days ago...big help it was to the economy...all the numbers are already in!

What a waste.

[BallyBill]

They waste so much money trying to figure out ways to save money.

I was getting whiplash reading about the choice of engines for the new booster on wikipedia the other week. 2 days later I heard they decided they should have stuck with the modified Shuttle engines.

[Moonman62]

NASA had hoped to minimize the gap, but additional funding to do so has not been approved by the U.S. Congress.

W has no clout to push through his vision for NASA. Now the Russians can launch us into space from a spaceport in their new state of Georgia.

[3D-JOY]

My Congressman who represents the Space Coast has been complaining about the joint plans for years...he could not get anyone to listen or care, or take action. This year he quit.

His district was carved up after the last census and still no help from the other Rep.

[NormsRevenge]

ap has this also.. when it rains it pours

NASA safety panel worries about moon ship design

[rfp1234]

Leave it to Branson.

[LiberConservative]

I'm beyond sad. I'm OUTRAGED. WE ... THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA were the FIRST on the moon ... the FIRST to use a reusable spacecraft ... the FIRST to probe beyond our solar system with Voyager ... countless successful missions to Mars and beyond ... and we are STUCK here on earth now relying on communists ... because of a guy named “W”. Frack him.