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Scientists say NASA cutting missions to Mars
Yahoo ^ | 2/9/12 | Seth Borenstein - AP

Posted on 02/09/2012 7:20:41 PM PST by NormsRevenge

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists say NASA is about to propose major cuts in its exploration of other planets, especially Mars. And NASA's former science chief is calling it irrational.

With limited money for science and an over-budget new space telescope, the space agency essentially had to make a choice in where it wanted to explore: the neighboring planet or the far-off cosmos.

Mars lost.

Two scientists who were briefed on the 2013 NASA budget that will be released next week said the space agency is eliminating two proposed joint missions with Europeans to explore Mars in 2016 and 2018. NASA had agreed to pay $1.4 billion for those missions. Some Mars missions will continue, but the fate of future flights is unclear, including the much-sought flight to return rocks from the red planet.

The two scientists, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the budget, said the cuts to the Mars missions are part of a proposed reduction of about $300 million in NASA's $1.5 billion planetary science budget. More than $200 million in those cuts are in the Mars program, they said. The current Mars budget is $581.7 million.

"To me, it's totally irrational and unjustified," said Edward Weiler, who until September was NASA's associate administrator for science. "We are the only country on this planet that has the demonstrated ability to land on another planet, namely Mars. It is a national prestige issue."

...

Two years ago, President Barack Obama said his ultimate goal was to send astronauts to Mars.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cutting; mars; missions; nasa; scientists
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To: KevinDavis

Ping.


21 posted on 02/09/2012 8:21:10 PM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: Brilliant
Mars isn’t going to happen in our lifetime. Probably not our kids, either.

Mars is a dead red rock. All the planets are dead except earth. Plus our dead moon. What's the point?? Why not explore Death Valley? At least you might find a bug.

22 posted on 02/09/2012 8:27:06 PM PST by Arkady Orinko ("Hell is other people" - Jean-Paul Sartre)
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To: NormsRevenge

SciFi giants Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke were way off in their timeframes for Martian exploration. They correctly projected the technology but not the will.


23 posted on 02/09/2012 8:47:17 PM PST by luvbach1 (Stop the destruction in 2012 or continue the decline)
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To: Arkady Orinko

All the researchers and very smart people should have sought your advise first. It would have saved a lot of time, money and having to learn about all these space floaties.


24 posted on 02/09/2012 8:53:07 PM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: NormsRevenge

Why go to Mars when the most pressing agenda is to ensure Muslim self-esteem is so large it’s OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!


25 posted on 02/09/2012 8:53:43 PM PST by 4buttons
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To: NormsRevenge

Why go to Mars when the most pressing agenda is to ensure Muslim self-esteem is so large it’s OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!


26 posted on 02/09/2012 8:53:43 PM PST by 4buttons
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To: luvbach1

simply a question of priorities...
this is much more important than giving NASA 1.5 billion for Mars:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2844719/posts
Last year, a federal program paid out $1.6 billion to cover free cell phones and the monthly bills of 12.5 million wireless accounts. The program, overseen by the FCC and intended to help low-income Americans, ...


27 posted on 02/09/2012 8:56:58 PM PST by Elendur (It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. - Thomas Jefferson)
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To: NormsRevenge

I always felt that we should really establish a presence on the moon first. It’s close and we can practice every technique necessary for exploring Mars in the future. Not to mention the supposed promise of Helium 3 and lunar water.


28 posted on 02/09/2012 9:43:48 PM PST by catbertz (Easter egg...I wants it.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Hey, we can’t afford to go to Mars or even back to the moon. Apparently, we CAN afford to pay the Russians $1.5 Billion over the next five years to give our astronauts rides to the International Space Station in low earth orbit to observe global warming or something. We can also apparently afford to let the Red Chinese take the lead in space. This is what happens when The U.S. elects a Marxist president.


29 posted on 02/09/2012 10:32:49 PM PST by Josh Painter ("The only thing these 'investments' will get us is a bullet train to bankruptcy." - Palin)
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To: NormsRevenge

The ONLY purpose of NASA is to establish more ISLAM
on Earth and to transfer US technology to Obama-the Undocumented’s 57 States for Interplanetary Jihad.


30 posted on 02/10/2012 3:31:19 AM PST by Diogenesis ("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. " Pres. Ronald Reagan)
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