Obama Planning to Scrap Shuttle Replacement, Says NASA [use decades-old military rockets instead..]

Daily Tech ^

[Sub-Driver]

Obama Planning to Scrap Shuttle Replacement, Says NASA Michael Asher (Blog) - December 22, 2008 10:13 AM

President-elect's transition team planning to use decades-old military rockets instead, say insiders.

President-Elect Obama's transition team is planning to scrap NASA's Ares program, the successor to the Space Shuttle, say NASA advisors. The transition team is demanding deep cuts from the agency, and is investigating whether old military rockets such as the Delta IV and Atlas V could be used in place of Ares.

NASA plans a permanent moon base by 2020, followed by a manned mission to Mars; plans which the agency says require Ares.

The Space Shuttle is due to make its last flight in 2010. Without a replacement, NASA may be without a manned space capability entirely, for the first time since the 1960s, a gap that NASA says would destroy the U.S.'s primacy in space technology.

Prior news reports have hinted at a great deal of tension between Obama's team and NASA, a report that NASA Administrator Michael Griffon has denied.

[mewzilla]

Back to the days of big dumb boosters? Snort. Let’s hear it for Mr. Science.

[Moonman62]

and is investigating whether old military rockets such as the Delta IV and Atlas V could be used in place of Ares.

Those rockets are new and primarily used for private launches, though they do have a military heritage like all rockets.

[jveritas]

He wants to impose on us the voodoo science of the so called man made global warming but he does not want to invest in the real science and technology such as the space program.

[Arkinsaw]

NASA is actually pretty cheap, but I don't think that really matters at this point.

At some point we will have to rebuild NASA from scratch, much like Reagan had to rebuild the military. It will cost a lot more at that time and there will be a lot of catch-up to do.

One good thing though is that maybe Florida will finally get a lesson in which way they should vote.

[2banana]

Expand social programs, cut the military and NASA - where have I seen this before...

[mountn man]

...a gap that NASA says would destroy the U.S.'s primacy in space technology.

Thats whats at issue here. Obama doesn't want the US to have primacy at anything. He hates the US, like every other leftist, and wants to destroy it.

[ilgipper]

so he lied here in FL when he promised to support NASA? sweet.

[IonInsights]

The decline of the USA, brought to you by the Democratic party.

[Badeye]

The shuttles exist to service the International Space Station, the ISS exists only to be a destination for the shuttles.

We should have ended both a decade or more ago. Instead, we could have had a station on that odd ‘satellite’ 260,000 miles away, known to some as the MOON.

Past time we got our DNA off the planet.

[OldNavyVet]

If Obama is looking for sensible places to cut funding, the “global warming” fiasco is worth looking into.

[benasawin]

Maybe Zero can get the soon-to-be out of work NASA scientists plum positions as community organizers.

[RC2]

So....the transition team has become experts at rocket technoloy now. Amazing, simply amazing at how fast they can get edumacated. If the old technology is so good, let Obama go up with the next flight.

[mewzilla]

I’ll bet the Russians and Chinese will be doing a happy dance.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

Bring back the Saturn V’s?

[NonValueAdded]

as I posted previously:

Bwahahahahahahaha ... and he PROMISED, Central Florida, PROMISED not to uh, mess, with the space program. And you all bought it, hook, line, and headline. (Note that the bwahahaha is hysterical laughter, noting what the end of Apollo did to the Space Coast).

Sen. Barack Obama Pledges Space Advocacy
By Patrick Peterson
FLORIDA TODAY
posted: 8 August 2008

TITUSVILLE - Sen. Barack Obama promised not to cut NASA funding and said Saturday at a town hall meeting he will rely on Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and revered astronaut and former Sen. John Glenn to help form his space policy.

"Under my watch, NASA will inspire the world once again and is going to help grow the economy right here in Brevard County," said the presumptive Democratic nominee, speaking to a crowd of 1,400 at Brevard Community College's Titusville campus.

Obama has changed an earlier position, in which he planned to delay the Constellation program five years and use up to $5 billion from the NASA budget for education.

"Here's what I'm committing to: Continue Constellation. We're going to close the gap (between the end of shuttle flight and the next program, Constellation). We may have additional shuttle flights," he said.

Original article shows those statements as DIRECT QUOTES. Obama Lied ... the Space Coast Died.

[N. Theknow]

He wants to impose on us the voodoo science of the so called man made global warming but he does not want to invest in the real science and technology such as the space program.

NASA needs to develop an ethanol rocket.

[eclecticEel]

Calling Ares a shuttle replacement is a bit of a stretch. As far as the Orion goes, I don’t think anyone at NASA took it to be a serious project but rather as a work-producing stunt. This is the principal problem with trying to launch any program over the span of several administrations.

[pallis]

Obama might lose some of his moonbat constituency over this.

[Moonman62]

I think it’s a good idea. The current director of NASA was a proponent of the idea at on time. He said it would take very little to man rate these rockets.