And a good thing he did, since it was outrageously expensive, based upon old tech, and guaranteed to kill another dozen or two highly-paid government employees while accomplishing nothing new. Constellation wasn't a moon program, it was a federal jobs program for the Kennedy launch pad crew and the gang over at the booster factory. There's a reason some people in the space industry called it "The ATK Thiokol Full Employment Act".
raise NASA's budget so they can pay people to get into earth orbit.
Actually, "President Obama’s budget proposal for 2011 calls for investing $6 billion over five years for probably two or more companies to develop spacecraft capable of carrying people into space. Then, instead of operating its own systems, like the space shuttles, NASA would buy rides for its astronauts on these commercial space taxis."[1]
Realistically, the odds of him being able to talk Congress into coughing up much of a budgetary increase for any kind of space stuff are as remote as the dark side of Uranus.
So were going to spend even more money paying private Contractors
Hiring privately-owned, profit-making space carriers...
[to do] what NASA already does...
...does not. Shuttle would be over whether the Prez cancelled Constellation or not. The damn ships are worn out!
...by using private contractors
That's a private contractor -- United Space Alliance. As in "government-funded, unionized monopoly".
But were still going nowhere.
Wrong again, O ye of little research. Bigelow "has two fully inflated test modules in orbit already, and will be buying 15 to 20 rocket launchings in 2017 and in each year after, providing ample business for the private companies that the Obama administration would like to finance for the transportation of astronauts into orbit — the so-called commercial crew initiative." [Ibid.]
SpaceX has two satellites on orbit as well, the most recently-launched of which is a test article for the manned crew/cargo ship they're going to launch soon. And let's not forget SpaceDev's upcoming Dream Chaser orbital spacecraft... the suborbital tourism gang over at Virgin Galactic... Masten Space's upcoming XA...
You may agree with Obama but please don't lump me in with your mindset.
I agree with him when he does something right.
And you have my solemn world that I will never consider you in any way a part of my mindset.
I actually want them to Go to the Moon...
"Them"? "Them" who? The federal government? For God's sake, we can't escape Uncle Sam here on Earth -- do we have to export bureaucrats and federal employee unions to the moon, too?
I don't want "them" to go to the moon. I want to go to the moon to escape "them". I want me and my family to go to the moon -- not as government employed astronauts, but as ticketed passengers on a privately-owned spaceship.
Orbit as I said Going nowhere we already done that. So your big revelation is were going to go into Orbit Not the moon just Orbit.
Color me underwhelmed.
No destination that is just really high above the earth.
A Destination is another place like the moon.
"Them"? "Them" who?
Astronauts are you really that thick? Instead of lolling around in earth orbit. I want them to actually go somewhere and make another place to live and work and explore.