Obama aims to ax moon mission

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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.

The White House budget request, which is certain to meet fierce resistance in Congress, scraps the Bush administration's Vision for Space Exploration and signals a major reorientation of NASA, especially in the area of human spaceflight.

"We certainly don't need to go back to the moon," said one administration official.

Everyone interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity, either because they are not authorized to talk for the White House or because they fear for their jobs. All are familiar with the broad sweep of Obama's budget proposal, but none would talk about specific numbers because these are being tightly held by the White House until the release of the budget.

But senior administration officials say the spending freeze for some federal agencies is not going to apply to the space agency in this budget proposal. Officials said NASA was expected to see some "modest" increase in its current $18.7 billion annual budget — possibly $200 million to $300 million more but far less than the $1 billion boost agency officials had hoped for.

They also said that the White House plans to extend the life of the International Space Station to at least 2020. One insider said there would be an "attractive sum" of money — to be spent over several years — for private companies to make rockets to carry astronauts there.

But Obama's budget freeze is likely to hamstring NASA in coming years as the spending clampdown will eventually shackle the agency and its ambitions. And this year's funding request to develop both commercial rockets and a new NASA spaceship will be less than what was recommended by a White House panel of experts last year.

That panel, led by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine, concluded that to have a "viable" human space-exploration program, NASA needed a $3 billion annual budget hike, and that it would take as much as $5 billion distributed over five years to develop commercial rockets that could carry astronauts safely to and from the space station.

Last year, lawmakers prohibited NASA from canceling any Constellation programs and starting new ones in their place unless the cuts were approved by Congress. The provision sends a "direct message that the Congress believes Constellation is, and should remain, the future of America's human space flight program," wrote U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., last month.

Nevertheless, NASA contractors have been quietly planning on the end of Ares I, which is years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget. NASA has already spent more than $3 billion on Ares I and more than $5 billion on the rest of Constellation.

In recent days, NASA has been soliciting concepts for a new heavy-lift rocket from major contractors, including Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Pratt & Whitney. Last week, a group of moonlighting NASA engineers and rocket hobbyists proposed variations on old agency designs that use the shuttle's main engines and fuel tank to launch a capsule into space. According to officials and industry executives familiar with the presentations, some of the contractor designs are very similar to the one pressed by the hobbyists.

Officially, companies such as Boeing still support Constellation and its millions of dollars of contracts. Some believe that in a battle with Congress, Ares may survive.

"I would not say Ares is dead yet," said an executive with one major NASA contractor. "It's probably more accurate to say it's on life support. We have to wait to see how the coming battle ends."

Few doubt that a fight is looming. In order to finance new science and technology programs and find money for commercial rockets, Obama will be killing off programs that have created jobs in some powerful constituencies, including the Marshall Space Flight Center in Shelby's Alabama. But the White House is said to be ready for a fight.

The end of the shuttle program this year is already going to slash 7,000 jobs at Kennedy Space Center.

One administration official said the budget will send a message that it's time members of Congress recognize that NASA can't design space programs to create jobs in their districts. "That's the view of the president," the official said.

Think of all the jobs and R&D benefits we're losing on this one.

China: You can have the moon!

 

[geno]

Think of all the jobs ... we're losing on this one.

quoted for lols.

 

[edro]

Obama hates the moon.

 

[shiner]

I can't think of anything to say other than

 

[Jadow]

one thing I agree with Baracky on

 

[JM Aggie08]

The Daily Show pretty summed up Obama's first year and office pretty well.



fuck.

 

[FelixDeCat]

When are we going to start strip mining the moon? Every good science fiction movie has predicted that the profit motive is our only true impetus to establish a presence there.

 

[FoBoT]

 

[Slew Foot]

"In their place, according to White House insiders, agency officials, industry executives and congressional sources familiar with Obama's long-awaited plans, are more bail outs for banks and welfare queens."

Edited for truth.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

:\

 

[txrandom]

He has to pay for health care. Do you hate your fellow Americans?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

disappointing, but entirely predictable. not as if bush wasn't talking out of his ass in the first place.

 

[Fenixgoon]

quoted for lols.

considering the number of incredible things to come out of NASA, i see it as a very bad idea to cut funding to one of the most fundamental research agencies at our disposal.

 

[shiner]

He has to pay for health care. Do you hate your fellow Americans?

Yes, mostly.

 

[Gooberlx2]

 

[Spydermag68]

We would have the money if:
1) Repeal the shamuless package
2) Vote down Obamacare
3) Get Obama out of office.

 

[Fritzo]

one thing I agree with Baracky on

Yeah, I'm all for space exploration, but with the state the economy is in and two war fronts we're dealing with, we just plain can't afford it

We're facing a 1.4 TRILLION DOLLAR deficit this year. That's One Thousand Four Hundred Billion Dollars we're going to have to borrow. We need to cut back to bare essentials to get this caught up or it won't matter if China goes to the moon first---the US will be owned by them anyway.

We would have the money if:
1) Repeal the shamuless package
2) Vote down Obamacare
3) Get Obama out of office.

What a stupid statement. Obama didn't cause this crap, your friendly neighborhood banker that wanted to make a commission on a $500K loan the borrower couldn't afford did.

 

[Miramonti]

With a $1.4T annual budget deficit this year, the only ones going to the moon should be congress with one way tickets.

 

[joesmoke]

We would have the money if:
3) Get Obama out of office.

yes, this would undoubtedly be free.

 

[Sahakiel]

Just a sign of the times. Research spending in the U.S. has been going downhill the past 15 years with no signs of stopping. The private sector won't fund anything that can't turn a profit within a year and public or government institutions don't have the budget to operate let alone fund research. China is on track to publish more peer-reviewed research papers than the US and Europe combined.

 

[Red Dawn]

We would have the money if:
3) Get Obama out of office.

And replace him with a Republican? Yeah baby, lets put those who caused this mess back in power

 

[Dari]

This president needs to resign for the good of the nation. His fawning of our enemies and hatred of all that is good about this great nation is turning his reign into a catastrophe.

 

[Red Dawn]

This president needs to resign for the good of the nation. His fawning of our enemies and hatred of all that is good about this great nation is turning his reign into a catastrophe.

You are a fucking nutcase.

 

[MisterJackson]

And replace him with a Republican? Yeah baby, lets put those who caused this mess back in power

This thread seems to be slipping down a P&N slope.

Hell, you think a single party is responsible for the mess we're in? You think the government alone is responsible for the mess we're in?

 

[techs]

Next time Americans will think twice before they support massive tax cuts without spending cuts, deregulating financial markets and supporting outsourcing....

who am I kidding? Americans are idiots and will probably blame Obama...