Posted on Wednesday, 3rd February 2010 by Interloper
NASA’s hopes to return astronauts the moon by the year 2020 (a plan originally set in motion by ex-President George W. Bush) have been dashed with the release of Obama’s latest budget on Monday.
The budget also ends development of the Ares 1 rocket, which was set to replace the ageing space shuttles currently in deployment. NASA’s current space shuttle fleet will fly their final missions into space this year, after which one is set to be headed to the Smithsonian and two others sold.
Prompted by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, governments all over the world have been forced to adjust their priorities, leaving little room for the sweeping, idealistic visions of the space programs of old.
As badly as many fans of NASA are likely to take the news, the agency will undoubtedly continue to be an important contributor to the future of space research, with the new budget freeing up funds that can now be used for long-term research, including the objective of one day sending a manned mission to Mars.
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