Lunar News Network

NASA Trajectory

This MSNBC report reviews the history of the shuttle program, notes the age of the shuttle fleet, anticipates the Ares and Orion program, and concludes with the goal of returning to the Moon:

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NASA Budget Increases, Mission Unclear

 
I had a great deal of trepidation about the fate of the NASA budget leading up to the release of Obama's proposed federal budget last month. After all, in a time of great economic crisis and financial hardship, could the U.S. really afford to launch a major new initiative to return to the Moon and go on to Mars? As this report from New Scientist makes clear, Obama said yes, and refused to back away from Bush's ambitious Vision for Space Exploration:

NASA will stay on track to return humans to the Moon by 2020, according to an overview of President Obama's 2010 budget request released on Thursday. [...] But the budget request backs a plan developed under the Bush administration to retire the space shuttle by 2010 and develop a system to return humans to the Moon by 2020. [...] Under the proposed budget, the agency would receive $18.7 billion in 2010. Combined with $1 billion in funding provided in an economic stimulus package signed into law last week, NASA would get $2.4 billion more than it did in 2008. [...]The budget would also likely be a boost over 2009 funding levels. The agency's 2009 budget has not yet been settled. NASA has been operating at 2008 funding levels under a continuing resolution since October 2008.

In hindsight, I wonder if my trepidations was warranted? After all, dramatic cutbacks at NASA at a time when the shuttle fleet is being phased out would mean that the U.S., a leading spacefaring nation, would have to rely on other countries for access to space. That would have been untenable for national security reasons, to say nothing of national pride. Still, as this report from today's LA Times notes, the NASA budget increase does not mean that Obama has given NASA a new mandate and a clear focus:

During an interview, Obama said the first priority of a new agency administrator -- whom he promised to appoint soon -- would be "to think through what NASA's core mission is and what the next great adventures and discoveries are under the NASA banner." Until that happens, he said, the White House would delay any major policy decisions about the agency.

It would appear that the good news on the NASA budget has been overshadowed by Obama's reluctance to quickly appoint a new administrator, decide the fate of the shuttle program, and to commit to the Constellation program. I'm not sure what to make of it other than to note that my initial optimism based on the increased budget has now evaporated.