Thu, Jan 28, 2010
Constellation Program, Ares Rockets, All Pushed To The
Side
President Obama's budget, which
will be revealed Monday, reportedly contains no money for a return
to the moon. The Constellation program that was to make that
possible, as well as the Ares I rocket that would have replaced the
Space Shuttle, and the Ares V heavy lift booster, have all been put
off for years, if not a decade or more according to those familiar
with the plan.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that agency officials,
congressional leaders, and White House insiders say that there will
eventually be a "heavy lift" rocket but that it will not be
developed in the near term. Instead, the Obama administration wants
NASA to focus its energies on Earth science projects, principally
monitoring and research on ... here it comes ... climate change.
For actual space exploration, the administration will direct the
agency to develop technology to go beyond low-earth orbit to
eventually study asteroids and the inner solar system.
Obama would turn to the private sector to develop spacecraft
that would ferry crew and cargo to the International Space Station
on fixed-price contracts.
Senior administration officials who spoke on condition on
anonymity said that the spending freeze that will go into effect
for many agencies will not be imposed on NASA, but it will be not
be the $1 billion the agency had hoped for, nor the $3 billion the
Augustine Commission reported would be needed to continue a human
spaceflight program.
Ares 1X Launch NASA Photo
The budget reportedly will extend the ISS program through 2020,
and there will be an "attractive sum of money" for private
companies to come up with a way to shuttle the crews back and
forth. It's also likely that Congress will not give up the space
program without a fight. But one administration official said that
in the view of President Obama, Congress needs to come to grips
with the fact that NASA does not exist to provide space programs
that create jobs in their districts.
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