Thursday, August 13, 2009

Review of Human Space Flight Committee: NASA Constellation program unaffordable

Robert Block
The Write Stuff
Orlando Sentinel

The Augustine Panel re-examining NASA's human spaceflight plans has concluded that the agency's current Constellation Program to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 will not fit into the current presidential budget.

In fact, the panel has found that President Barack Obama's current budget does not allow for any significant human exploration program.

"We are on a path right now for a system on a close order of just double the budget to operate," said panel member Jeff Greason of Constellation, which stemmed from President George W. Bush's 2005 "vision" to return Americans to the moon by 2020 and then move on to Mars.

Greason added that if Santa Claus gave the program to the country fully developed, NASA would still have to cancel it because the agency could not afford to launch it.

Read the Post HERE.

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