Obama kills U.S. manned space program

Fox News Channel | 1/29/10

[Pollster1]

Killing the Constellation Program means the $9B already spent is down the drain and an estimated 4,600 jobs will have been ended.

To be fair to Obama, that $9B will be used to create or save somewhere between 200 and 300 jobs, more than a dozen of which will be in real districts.

[equaviator]

“...American Exceptionalism.”

You can’t put a price on that...Obama doesn’t seem to understand...or does he?

[No Truce With Kings]

“How is that going to affect employment in the Houston area?”

I believe there are some 6000 contractors working on Shuttle and Constellation programs. If this goes through all of them are toast. Probably affect up to several thousand others that support those directly employed on those programs. In other words it will be a space employment massacree that will exceed that which occurred at the end of the Apollo Program.

We will still have ISS, and the JSC Civil Servants can keep themselves occupied doing the “future studies” for the follow-on programs that will replace Constellation, but there will be a lot of unemployed rocket scientists (really engineers, but we have to play to trope).

I understand India is looking to jump-start its manned space program . . .

[alancarp]

Combine that with NASA, that has wandered around in a daze since the late eighties

There's some merit to that, true, but when NASA's funding gets used like a political football every 4-to-8 years, how can they possibly plan for anything when all projects take at least a decade to put together? Once upon a time, they were lauded as innovators. Now it's always "can you do it cheaper?" Of course the answer is "no" since the problems of space seldom appear on terra firma.

So our society has to decide whether it's appropriate to bother at all -- there is little commercial interest due to the obvious enormous costs (risk). If we're 'IN', then we need to stay 'IN'. Otherwise, it's all history.

[Canedawg]

He understands. His goals are the antithesis of what we stand for.

[MinorityRepublican]

The ironic thing is that Florida voted for this bum. I read somewhere this decision may cost up to 5,000 jobs in the KSC area alone. I hope they're happy with their choice. Senator Bill Nelson, where are you? Elections have consequences.

Yep but now there's no chance Florida will vote for Obama in '12 and that may prove to be crucial.

[lonestar]

Doesn’t congress have the final say?

[same old song]

So much for that Aerospace Engineering degree I was working on...... Lol.

[thecabal]

Obama would come out to give a speech that he discovered that “space is one cold muthaf***a”

[gathersnomoss]

There is going to be a 2012 after Obama is finished?

[Palter]

Dam.

India plans manned space mission in 2016

[equaviator]

All in all, what I think this boils down to is punishment of the USA in paying homage to The Planet.

[Cheryllynn]

Changey hopey strikes again.

[equaviator]

I should have said “...in paying “Obamage” to The Planet.”...After all, it’s HIS money, right?

[mcshot]

Good question. Seems he’s assigned himself dictatorial powers and trashed our system of checks and balances.

[spectre]

During the campaign, Obama Flip-flopped on his support of NASA. The Internet is full of Obama's quotes wrt our Nations Space Program.

So any NASA employee who was dumb enough to vote for the guy deserves what they get. The ones who didn't have my since sympathies.

In Obama land, he speaks of higher education, but he fires rocket scientists?

This administration is reducing our Nation to shovel ready jobs.

sw

[twyn1]

Yep but now there's no chance Florida will vote for Obama in '12 and that may prove to be crucial.

Sure they will ... that's where most of the new Haitian and tons of other illegals given amnesty and made "insta-citizens" will be ...

[DYngbld]

And he wants to build his ChooChoo in FL too. So the thousands of high tech jobs, will be replaced with low wage jobs, and people who will support him in future elections.

[MinorityRepublican]

Sure they will ... that's where most of the new Haitian and tons of other illegals given amnesty and made "insta-citizens" will be ...

While we may have some new immigrants in this country, I don't believe Democrats will be able to pass amnesty. They just do not have the political capital to do pretty much anything until mid-term elections which should be a massive victory for the Republicans.

[Question Liberal Authority]

Maybe the Chinese will undertake this great interplanetary expansion. If so, that kind of knocks all of Star Trek and a number of other science-fiction tales into a cocked hat.

KHAN!!!