Obama aims to ax moon mission

Orlando Sentinel ^ | Wednesday, January 27, 2010

[rightcoast]

NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon are dead. So are the rockets being designed to take them there — that is, if President Barack Obama gets his way.

When the White House releases his budget proposal Monday, there will be no money for the Constellation program that was supposed to return humans to the moon by 2020. The troubled and expensive Ares I rocket that was to replace the space shuttle to ferry humans to space will be gone, along with money for its bigger brother, the Ares V cargo rocket that was to launch the fuel and supplies needed to take humans back to the moon.

There will be no lunar landers, no moon bases, no Constellation program at all.

In their place, according to White House insiders, agency officials, industry executives and congressional sources familiar with Obama's long-awaited plans for the space agency, NASA will look at developing a new "heavy-lift" rocket that one day will take humans and robots to explore beyond low Earth orbit. But that day will be years — possibly even a decade or more — away.

In the meantime, the White House will direct NASA to concentrate on Earth-science projects — principally, researching and monitoring climate change — and on a new technology research and development program that will one day make human exploration of asteroids and the inner solar system possible.

There will also be funding for private companies to develop capsules and rockets that can be used as space taxis to take astronauts on fixed-price contracts to and from the International Space Station — a major change in the way the agency has done business for the past 50 years...

See link for full article...

[MinorityRepublican]

2020s not a long time away. China should be able to send an astronaut to the moon in 15 years. Maybe less.

[messierhunter]

I feared it but didn’t want to really believe it. This is the exact opposite direction the SPACE agency needs to be going. If he gets his way, US manned spaceflight is done. We just handed the keys to China or anyone else who wants to take our place. I think that was completely intentional; he doesn’t believe the US should be dominant in anything.

[Prokopton]

Take a look at all the departments with a larger budget than NASA and you can say the same about them. So why don't we unfund them too?

True, and NASA has actually done things, sometimes great things.

Who was ever educated by the Department of Education?

How much food was produced by the Department of Agriculture?

How much energy has been generated by the Department of Energy?

I would rather spend money on a department that advances science and technology than giant bureaucracies that advance nothing but the careers of bureaucrats.

[LuvFreeRepublic]

Who didn’t see this coming when the economy began to implode?

The "powers that be" in Florida. Heck they don't even have a plan for dealing with the loss of the Shuttle Program. You would think that they would have learned after the Apollo program shut down. Brevard County is going to be hurting, more so than it already is, and for a very long time.

[ratzoe]

I have mixed emotions on this one. NASA has become an ineffective, politics dominated government agency. Funding them is throwing good money after bad. But, when a nation quits stiving, when it loses it’s dreams, it’s a ticket to 2nd world status. Seems to me, this is one of many signals the American era is coming to an end.

While I agree that NASA isn't what it once was, it's still miles ahead in terms of management when compared to most government agencies. I agree wholeheartedly with your 2nd paragraph.

[Red Badger]

National
A$$
Sucking
Administration..............

[GonzoGOP]

2020s not a long time away. China should be able to send an astronaut to the moon in 15 years. Maybe less.


Shenzhou is a good ship that certainly has the potential to be a lunar command module. It is bigger than the Soyuz that it closely resembles. But the current crop of boosters can only just get it into LEO. They are going to need something the size of a Saturn V or an N1 to get it to the moon. And there are no signs of either a giant rocket or a giant launch pad as of yet. Of course Once the rocket or the pad shows up you only have a couple of years until they go. Building and testing the hardware is the last step.

[messierhunter]

The last week of January and first of February are just plain bad for NASA.

So true, it's almost like some kind of curse.

[Mr. Silverback]

Robert Heinlein once testified before Congress that a near-fatal neurological problem he had suffered had been treated with several technologies that existed soley because of the space program. CAT and telemetry were among them. Telemetry is obvious, CAT was developed for NDI of spacecraft parts.
My brother’s life was saved by CAT after an auto accident. He was outside the golden hour and should have been dead at 18. Today he lives a happy and productive life, and pays taxes.

And here’s the best part: The Apollo Program cost each American 5 cents per day. Meanwhile, we pay 28 cents per dollar spent on welfare in administration costs, and that’s if we assume that spending the other 72 percent is a good value...and we know it’s quite the opposite.

Senator Proxmire, go back to the grave, and take your dairy price supports with you.

[DrewsDad]

the White House will direct NASA to concentrate on Earth-science projects — principally, researching and monitoring climate change

I guess they'll have to change the name to

N ational
A rtificial
S cience
A dministration

[MinorityRepublican]

2020s not a long time away. China should be able to send an astronaut to the moon in 15 years. Maybe less.

[Thermalseeker]

CAT was developed for NDI of spacecraft parts.

Aircraft parts, too. Excellent example and one that I should have noted myself, given that I'm a pilot and have built a couple of experimental airplanes. You are absolutely correct. A lot of the medical imaging technology we use today, like ultrasound and CAT are directly attributable to technology that came from the space program in the 1960's.

[Thermalseeker]

China should be able to send an astronaut to the moon in 15 years. Maybe less.

Ahhh, the indelible Clinton legacy rears it's ugly head. I wonder if the Chicom's will name their first military base on the moon after old Slick Willy?

[messierhunter]

Actually, a semi-permanent or permanent moon outpost of the US would actually ensure that such things didn’t happen - even if we didn’t equip it with its own accelerator. Bingo! Our presence on the moon, particularly if we were to beat China, would give us the upper hand. It would be futile for them to try to start building a weapon on the moon if we already had the means and ability to put one there ourselves faster than they could. It's just one reason why we can't afford to give up our position in space, but that's exactly what we're doing.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

He found a more important program in which to invest: ACORN Community Organizing.

[NonValueAdded]

Fornicating son of a female dog. ANOTHER CAMPAIGN PROMISE BROKEN. And he's coming to Florida tomorrow to replace ad astra with a choo-choo train.

How do you like that, Charlie Crist???

[messierhunter]

Ooooh, I LOVE that one! The hoax has been exposed, why do the libtards keep trying to grow it when most people already disbelieve it? Does he not realize how poorly this shift of focus will be received, or does he think it’ll just fly under the radar?

[NonValueAdded]

Brevard County, Florida BOHICA ping.

Let me know if you want on or off this ping list.
(not associated with the county government)

[OBXWanderer]

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas gained notoriety from the Obama camp by endorsing Hillary Clinton's presidential run in 2008. Her district includes the home of Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.

actually JSC is in Texas 22. The old Delay seat, now held by Pete Olson

[ichabod1]

A rat done bit mah sissuh Nell and whitey’s on the moon.
Huh face an’ ahm begin to swell and whitey’s on the moon.
Ah cain’t pay no docta bill an’ whitey’s on the moon.
Ten yeahs fum now ah’ll be payin still an’ whitey’s on the moon.

The man jis upped mah rent lass night an whiteys on the moon.
No hot wata no toilet no lights an whiteys on the moon
I wunda why he’s uppin me and whiteys on the moon.
Ah wuz already payn’im fiffy a week an whiteys on the moon.

(Yes, I know NASA administrator Charlie Bolden is black. This is going to mean the recession comes home to Houston.)