Tight funds put space missions on the chopping block (Popular Science/CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Stefano Coledan
Popular Science

Thursday, April 27, 2006; Posted: 12:07 p.m. EDT (16:07 GMT)
***
As for the 16 more {Shuttle missions} needed to finish assembly {of the ISS}, as mandated by President Bush two years ago in his Vision for Space Exploration policy, NASA is short by as much as $5 billion.

On top of that, the agency needs an estimated $15 billion to build its new crew exploration vehicle, or CEV, to reach the moon by 2020.

To come up with the cash, in February NASA proposed a staggering $3 billion in cuts from its space-science budget over the next five years.

Among the endangered missions is the Terrestrial Planet Finder, two telescopes intended to hunt for Earth-like planets around nearby stars, and the Europa Orbiter, a probe designed to find alien life on Jupiter's moon.
***
more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/04/27/nasa.missions/index.html

So ... Halliburton must not get a cut from NASA, or they'd be swimming in cash. (Still, no results would be produced, of course.) Cutting $3B from the budget will keep the Iraq war going for another... let's see... no wait, that can't be right...:eyes:

I feel another "unfunded mandate" coming to light.

EDIT to correct a number.

[Sub Atomic]

1. But, but, but...

I thought we were going to Mars!!

[Boojatta]

2. Von Braun was excited about the possibility of space travel, but

the Nazi authorities explained to him that it would be wrong for him to focus his energies on the moon when there were so many unconquered countries and other problems right here on Earth.

[merwin]

3. Didn't we already reach the moon?

[magellan]

4. We want to go back. There might be water there.

If NASA finds out there's water on the moon, maybe we can convince Bush** to invade. Alone. One-way ticket.

"I've got a ticket to the moon,
Flight leaves here today from Satellite 2
As the minutes go by what should I do?
I paid the fare, what more can I say?
It's just one way...." ~ E.L.O.

[Frank Cannon]

6. Wow's that's the first time I've seen anyone quote from the Time album

Very cool.

[magellan]

8. I love that album

Was a huge E.L.O. fan back in the day. Still am. :) I was listening to Time today because it fit my mood....

"Remember the good old 1980s,
when things were so uncomplicated
I wish I could go back there again
And everything could be the same..."

And how. Everything being relative, of course.

[Frank Cannon]

12. Time was an unsung masterpiece

ELO, to my mind, is one of the most underappreciated groups in history. I never get tired of listening to either Time or their other unsung masterpiece, Eldorado:

"One thing I have learned through these years
Is that no man should be stricken with fear
It should be that he walks with no care in the world

So, my friends who are gathered today.
Hear this clear, for I'll not further say,
That no man shall cause me to take up arms again..."

[magellan]

18. Out of the Blue was another goodie

Not quite up to notch with Time and Eldorado, but the range of musical styles is breathtaking. Hearing Mr Blue Sky always makes me happy, and I also like to listen to...Jungle. Funny, masterful little tune!

It's great to meet someone else here who appreciates E.L.O. Their fantastic orchestrations and the coherency of their music made them timeless; another reason I love them to this day.

[brentspeak]

5. It's not so much that Halliburton isn't getting a cut from NASA

as much as it is that Halliburton's cut from the national treasury now leaves NASA (along with a lot of other programs) with just loose change.

Now, I wonder if technology has advanced to the point where spaceships can be constructed from rubber bands and popsicle sticks?

:banghead:

[Erika]

7. Well, what's more important?

Invading and occupying a country which was no threat or spending money on science expansion?

Now if W can talk his GOP Congress into viewing science expansion as "national security" and sticking in his buds, they'll get the money. After all, Americans don't need any of the Social Security funds back that they've paid in all of their lives. An as far as Medicare goes, elderly Americans should just shut up and quietly die. The whiners.

Bush and the Republicans have their priorities.

[muryan]

9. sad

splace exploration technology has provided us with many useful things and im optimistic about the future. Economically, there is no future enterprise that will be even a fraction as profitable as space exploration/resource mining will be. I remember an article on here sometime ago showing that the meteor that will be passing by Earth around 2028 will have over 20 trillion dollars worth of resources and precious metals capable of being mined. I think that NASA should get all the money it needs, as long as it is using it for reasonable research/missions.

[Solon]

10. You know, if we actually cut the Pentagon budget by like...

I don't know, 20-30% we could pay down our debt, pay for Social Security, UHC, and other Social Programs, and increase NASA's budget more than enough to pay for ALL their missions. Even then, we would still outspend the other top 10 military budgets in the world, COMBINED. We are certifiably insane!

[Robeson]

17. Ssshhhh...."if we actually cut the Pentagon budget ".......

...you do realize, that's the one budget we can NEVER talk about cutting...;-)

[Qutzupalotl]

11. I swear Karl Rove came up with the lunar mission

and I swear even though it's just a hunch, ;) BUT...

I believe Karl Rove was worried about certain antiwar protest signs a few years ago saying "GOOGLE 'BUSH MOON' " (meaning, of course, educate yourself about the family connections between the Bushes and Rev. Moon's Unification Church). He didn't want that becoming something more than an open secret, so he says, let's pretend we want to go to the moon. We don't have to actually do anything, since you'll be long gone before we have to show anyone any progress. We just appropriate money here and move it around from over there and make a little noise about it. But now when you Google "Bush Moon" you get a lot of news articles about the president's lunar ambitions, which tend to bury the nefarious connections "they don't want you to know about".

And it's got to be Rove because only he thinks that way. A mad, evil genius.

[sendero]

13. I'm all for space exploration..

... but IMHO NASA is beyond hopeless. We've lost 2 spacecraft for no other reason than the corrupt outlook of management who has been willing to take preposterous risks with other people's lives and money.

If they disband NASA tomorrow, it would be a net gain for the country.

[eppur_se_muova]

14. Two MANNED spacecraft. Unmanned spaceflight is a different situation.

The MSF program is under intense political pressures from all directions, and always in the glare of the public spotlight. From the beginning, national pride has been wrapped up in the manned space flights, and every launch is a hold-your-breath, everything-depends-on-this moment for the whole space program. No surprise if priorities get warped there. Oh, and it's also the big porkbarrel for many congressional districts, so don't expect any disinterested voting for the most part.

When the spotlight is removed or dimmed -- as it is for unmanned probe missions -- the results are spectacularly successful (at least on average, since some are bound to fail w/no backups), and usually don't even get noticed by the public until they start to return spectacular photographs, years into the mission.

Personally, I wish they'd split the NASA budget into separate budgets for manned and unmanned flights. That way they wouldn't be cancelling flyby and orbiter missions left and right -- often after million$ have already been spent -- every time the STS or ISS has some little hiccup which requires a multimillion $$ fix. You'd think SOMEONE in Congress would have pushed for this before now.

[sendero]

15. That's..

... a good point. Unmanned missions have huge advantages in politics, and the potential to get a lot of good science done without spending hundreds of billions of dollars.

[Boojatta]

16. How much of the Michael Skok platform will this administration drop?

Michael Skok (New York)

Skok supports planning a manned mission to Mars in order to boost the US economy and colonize space. He also notes he is pro-life. Skok finished in last place in the New Hampshire Democratic primary with just 18 votes.

Source:
http://www.politics1.com/otherdem2k.htm