Lots of Ink: Obama White House to scuttle NASA’s Constellation program, have contractors fly astronauts. Moon landing off sked.
Many people saw this coming, but major outlets are reporting now it is official executive branch policy embedded in the upcoming, proposed US budget. The billions of dollars already spent on the Constellation Program at NASA to build Ares rockets and Orion crew capsules for missions to the Moon and elsewhere won’t be followed by more. Rather, NASA is to buy such services from aerospace industry without prescribing the exact specs of the hardware itself. Further, it appears that, for now, a US lunar base reverts to hypothetical long-term goal on slide presentations.
Many, and one guesses most, space scientists have long said human spaceflight has little scientific value. But its money comes from the same pot as do robotic missions, space telescopes, and the like. Perhaps we will soon learn whether NASA’s science budget will grow, or shrink, as (and if) its direct provision of space travel wanes.
Notable here is that this story managed to break and reach a lot of outlets, with a great deal of direct reporting, without the unifying goad of a press release or two. Some reporters appear to be rewriting one another, but many made calls to unnamed sources and others to flesh it out and dig up fresh tidbits.
Stories:
- NYTimes – Kenneth Chang: Obama Plan Privatizes Astronaut Launchings ; After stating the main news, Chang turns to the anger and worry among many members of Congress.
- AP – Seth Borenstein: NASA to get more money, but must scratch moon plan ;
- Orlando Sentinel – Robert Block, Mark K. Matthews: Obama to ax moon mission ; One interesting piece they dig up: The administration has stayed execution of the space station to at least 2020 or so. Official plans had been to ditch it, after $100 billion or so of int’l taxpayer money, in the Pacific Ocean in five years. Also read: Robert Block: Obama officials: NASA to get $6 billion for commercial rockets ;
- Palm Beach Post – Geroge Bennett: Nelson says he’ll fight any Obama proposals to cut NASA. It’s mostly about jobs. The “cut” verbiage in the hed seems to equate NASA with spacesuits. Far as one can tell, its overall budget won’t shrink, might even grow.
- Discovery News – Irene Klotz: NASA Former Administrator Weights In On Obama No-Moon Plan ;
- Talahassee Democrat – Burt Jansen: NASA’s course raises concerns ;
- SpaceflightNow – Stephen Clark: Obama’s NASA facelift faces tough fight in Congress ;
- Space.com – Clara Moskowitz: No Moon Trips: Obama’s Space Vision a “Paradigm Shift’ ; OK, a noted space policy expert used that paradigm line. Call me fussy – but really why quote it? The term is terribly misused here, and ought to be left with the original meaning that Thomas Kuhn gave it. Aside from that, a solid report on the overall space program and whether continued leadership by NASA in the now-routine business of making rockets is necessary. She gives Michael Griffin opportunity to defend, at modest length, use of government vehicles.
- Charlie Petit
Grist for the Mill: Existing NASA Constellation Program site.
