[Termite_Commander]

Among the casualties in the budget, released last month, are efforts to look for habitable planets and perhaps life elsewhere in the galaxy, an investigation of the dark energy that seems to be ripping the universe apart, bringing a sample of Mars back to Earth and exploring for life under the ice of Jupiter's moon Europa...

That sounds hilarious. Well, to me anyway.

Programs that are being cut include: SETI type program, getting our hands on some Martian rock samples, and figuring out what's tearing the universe apart.

Are you sure we shouldn't be funding that last one? Sounds kinda important. =P

On a serious note though, too bad they're cutting the Europa-exploration-thing. If there's one place in the solar system where life exists, I'd imagine it would be on Europa.

[RightWhale]

The look for habitable planets is not a SETI type thing at all but a gigantic space telescope that would be able to image earthsize planets around other stars directly.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

The Big Rip

If there's one place in the solar system where life exists, I'd imagine it would be on Europa.

I'd imagine it would be Earth. < /deadpan >

[Calvin Locke]

...too bad they're cutting the Europa-exploration-thing.

Um, "ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA...."