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...

[Touch Not the Cat]

Anything to hurt America.

[Oldpuppymax]

Yep. No dem voters on the moon, after all.

[rightcoast]

This is payback by Obama, pure and simple...

Rep. Parker Griffith of Alabama famously switched his party to Republican, and his district includes Huntsville, AL, the home of Marshall Space Flight Center.

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.

Rep. Suzanne Kosmas of Florida voted AGAINST the House health care bill, and she represents the FL district that encompasses Kennedy Space Center. Take a look at her picture on her House page, she has a shuttle there, for crying out loud!

[dead]

Well, NASA thought they could kiss the press and the federal government's asses by embracing "climate change" as if that would ensure them continuing and generous funding.

Now, instead of going to the moon and then Mars, they get to measure the temperature of the stratosphere over Mongolia, and photograph mud flats of Brazil with prop planes.

[Red Badger]

The Chinese aren’t waiting, they’re laughing their asses off!...........

[NCC-1701]

This is more bad news for NASA, especialy coming on the 43rd anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire and one day before the 24th anniversary of the Challenger explosion.

[Sans-Culotte]

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 striving, 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.

I really do not see it that way. Frankly, I see little use for NASA going to the moon. During the Space Race with the Russians there were military objectives involved. Also, space was a great unknown. The early space programs were like the explorations in the 15th - 16th centuries in which America was discovered and explored.

However, once the New World was discovered, and every inch of it mapped, there was no point in voyages of exploration. We've been to the Moon. It was important back then, but now that we've made several missions and discovered that it's really just a big rock in space, there is no point in spending taxpayer money to go there again. I agree we should continue striving, but we need to strive to do something that has never been done.

The only thing that gripes me about this is the the money being wasted on a redundant moon shot will be wasted instead on glo-bull warming.

[Spktyr]

As I said before, I bet NASA is starting to regret having killed off the DC-X program.

[My Favorite Headache]

What a POS liar this bastard is. He came to the space coast with his goon in tow Biden 3 times and said he wasn’t going to slash it. YOU LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Spktyr]

The moon actually is of military importance, especially if you look at how the 21st century is shaping up. The moon is beyond the range of any existing terrestrial anti-satellite weapons, but a railgun or linear accelerator on the moon has a practically unlimited ammunition supply and can hit any spot on the planet Earth.

[no-s]

This is exemplary of what many academic supporters of the left have failed to anticipate. Even though leftist candidates express support for science and research, in reality their policies bankrupt government and inevitably they also lead to a significant reduction in available funding for science and research.

Many will counter that fiscally conservative candidates would do the same. Most of the leftist academics I've met are dogmatically leftist to the point of intellectual corruption.

There is some issue of whether the rationale for the research was honestly presented anyway. We are socially acquainted with some of scientists who sit on the NSF review committees. They wear their leftist bias like a badge of honor.

[Thunder90]

The Russians also believe in weaponizing space... And probably will get to the moon before we go there again.

[Tennessee Nana]

Barry cant be the Moon and stars to everyone if he has a rival...

[DariusBane]

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

Obama really is a visionary leader.

[chuck_the_tv_out]

0bama is the anti-JFK.

[ConservativeMind]

America does not need NASA to dream or look forward.

Do you think supporters of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln were thinking, “Dang, if only we had a NASA to get us to the Moon?”

[Spktyr]

Part of the problem is that NASA and the Feds make it very difficult for ‘unapproved’ space ventures to go forwards and that they’ve actively engaged in sabotage of several likely ventures over the last couple of decades. The Feds *want* to have a monopoly on US space travel.

[GonzoGOP]

In honesty Ares I and especially Ares V were extremely bad designs, requiring very long lead times and having enormous development costs and upkeep costs. They were a "Designed by Committee" spaceship and their demise will not cause me any tears.

What bothers me is that they are being scrapped and no new ship is being built. We could have built DIRECT and been flying again at a fraction of the cost in four or five years. But by letting things go cold you lose all of your trained personnel and existing facilities. We will never be able to afford a start over from scratch space program.

It is not just the loss of the moon that is an issue here. But when the last shuttle flys later this year, it will represent the last time Americans will fly into space aboard an American rocket. We will no longer be a space capable nation.

We could stay in space for the cost of the commercials spent on the Superbowl. But hey who cares American Idol is on. Perhaps we should have a new song for Obama.
Rockets on the ground
Rockets on the ground
Looking like a fool
With your rockets on the ground.

[My Favorite Headache]

Do you have ANY idea what this is going to do to the local economy? We have already had 15% of business close in the area and projections are if the moon and mars programs go under and get axed that we will lose 55% of businesses and home value’s will stay where they are or sink even further.

I live here...I watched this man tell everyone around here to vote for him because he was going to keep it in his budget.

NO F-CKING WAY HE WINS FLORIDA IN 2010 in the mid-terms or in 2012 when he looks to be re-hired.

[qwertypie]

Good. For the wrong reasons, but good.