Obama Cancels Moon Return Project

g under p

President Barack Obama has cancelled the American project designed to take humans back to the Moon.

The Constellation programme envisaged new rockets and a new crewship called Orion to put astronauts on the lunar surface by 2020.

But in his 2011 budget request issued on Monday, Mr Obama said the project was too costly, "behind schedule, and lacking in innovation".

US space agency Nasa has already spent $9bn (£5.6bn) on the programme.

This just not the right time to go forward with an expensive project like this. However, my daughter is furious about this decision, she plans on being a astronaut someday. :evil:

Peace

Cosmo

g under p wrote:

President Barack Obama has cancelled the American project designed to take humans back to the Moon.

The Constellation programme envisaged new rockets and a new crewship called Orion to put astronauts on the lunar surface by 2020.

But in his 2011 budget request issued on Monday, Mr Obama said the project was too costly, "behind schedule, and lacking in innovation".

US space agency Nasa has already spent $9bn (£5.6bn) on the programme.

This just not the right time to go forward with an expensive project like this. However, my daughter is furious about this decision, she plans on being a astronaut someday. :evil:

Peace

...
She can still be an astronaut.
And yes... the cost is too great to undertake in these tough financial times.

Smellyman

Good...

I hope we continue to fund wars and huge military spending though.

Kel Varnsen

Smellyman wrote:

Good...

I hope we continue to fund wars and huge military spending though.

That's what I was thinking. Isn't NASA's budget tiny compared to other US Federal Government programs and for how little they spend by comparison their results are pretty damn amazing.

rebornFixer

I have no problems with cuts in space funding, at least right now. In fact, I have long felt that there are enough problems on Earth. Put all the money that goes into space exploration toward alternative fuel technologies and biodiversity conservation.

Cosmo

rebornFixer wrote:

I have no problems with cuts in space funding, at least right now. In fact, I have long felt that there are enough problems on Earth. Put all the money that goes into space exploration toward alternative fuel technologies and biodiversity conservation.

...
We can still shoot remote controlled toys to Mars, right? They are great and relatively cheap.
...and maybe the landing procedure can be put in to practical use some day... like surviving a plane crash or something.

rebornFixer

Cosmo wrote:

rebornFixer wrote:

I have no problems with cuts in space funding, at least right now. In fact, I have long felt that there are enough problems on Earth. Put all the money that goes into space exploration toward alternative fuel technologies and biodiversity conservation.

...
We can still shoot remote controlled toys to Mars, right? They are great and relatively cheap.
...and maybe the landing procedure can be put in to practical use some day... like surviving a plane crash or something.

Hmmm ... Yeah, maybe. The argument can be made. I think my beef is with all the funds that go into investigating the nature of organic molecules on Mars (past and present), while here on Earth, species go extinct daily and we cannot seem to leave ecosystems well enough alone. Yeah, it'd be cool to know more about whether Mars could or did or can support life. Personally, I'd prefer the emphasis to be on ensuring that Earth can still sustain viable ecosystems over the next century or so.

Kel Varnsen

rebornFixer wrote:

I have no problems with cuts in space funding, at least right now. In fact, I have long felt that there are enough problems on Earth. Put all the money that goes into space exploration toward alternative fuel technologies and biodiversity conservation.

Except Nasa does that kind of research. And if their funding gets cut, its not like it is going to some other program like that. Hydrogen fuel cells were developed as part of the Gemini program, and some of the most advanced and efficient water purification systems ever developed are used on the ISS since they essentially have to recycle every last drop of waste water and make it clean enough to drink again. If there was a mission to Mars even better water systems would need to be developed. Not to mention the ISS is completely powered using solar cells

unsung

In order to return to the moon wouldn't we have had to been there in the first place?

unsung

Kind of fitting we are now going to be depending on the Russians to get us to the ISS. The outsourcing of jobs continues.

rebornFixer

Kel Varnsen wrote:

rebornFixer wrote:

I have no problems with cuts in space funding, at least right now. In fact, I have long felt that there are enough problems on Earth. Put all the money that goes into space exploration toward alternative fuel technologies and biodiversity conservation.

Except Nasa does that kind of research. And if their funding gets cut, its not like it is going to some other program like that. Hydrogen fuel cells were developed as part of the Gemini program, and some of the most advanced and efficient water purification systems ever developed are used on the ISS since they essentially have to recycle every last drop of waste water and make it clean enough to drink again. If there was a mission to Mars even better water systems would need to be developed. Not to mention the ISS is completely powered using solar cells

Fair enough.

inmytree

unsung wrote:

Kind of fitting we are now going to be depending on the Russians to get us to the ISS. The outsourcing of jobs continues.

ha ha ha...damned if he does and damned if he doesn't...

let's say the headline read "Obama spending 9 billion to return to the Moon"...

the deficit hawks would be crying like little girls about the cost...and the waste...and crying "we can't afford to leave this debt for our poor little grand children, oh the poor children"...

know1

He probably realizes we don't have the know-how to make it back to the moon safely (if we ever went in the first place).

he still stands

Whatever happened to the optimism and idealism of the 60s? We've gone from exploring the universe and exploring consciousness to destroying ourselves and the earth. I guess the hippies all live in McMansions now and are fat retirees and have become exactly what they despised. That or they dropped out and don't have a voice and realize it doesn't matter...

Kel Varnsen

inmytree wrote:

unsung wrote:

Kind of fitting we are now going to be depending on the Russians to get us to the ISS. The outsourcing of jobs continues.

ha ha ha...damned if he does and damned if he doesn't...

let's say the headline read "Obama spending 9 billion to return to the Moon"...

the deficit hawks would be crying like little girls about the cost...and the waste...and crying "we can't afford to leave this debt for our poor little grand children, oh the poor children"...

And if they saved that 9 billion, it could go to pay for what, a month in Iraq. The reality is NASA's budget is tiny compared to other US programs. I mean it is something like a 0.6% of the entire US federal budget. So if you shifted all of that money to even say education or social security, would they really make much of a change in the budgets for those programs? Plus like I said before for the small expenditure (.6% of the total budget) look at the amazing things you get.

he still stands

Kel Varnsen wrote:

And if they saved that 9 billion, it could go to pay for what, a month in Iraq. The reality is NASA's budget is tiny compared to other US programs. I mean it is something like a 0.6% of the entire US federal budget. So if you shifted all of that money to even say education or social security, would they really make much of a change in the budgets for those programs? Plus like I said before for the small expenditure (.6% of the total budget) look at the amazing things you get.

yeah... like Velcro.



just kiddin... I agree NASA is a great investment for this country. We are going backwards if we lose focus on NASA, higher education, advanced technology, etc.

OutOfBreath

For the "If we ever went to the moon" crowd, is that suspicion based on any of the following busted myths recently tested in mythbusters?

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode-1 ... on-landing

It's a shame that they cut NASA funding, but not that surprising given the circumstances. It will probably triple again when China starts catching up space-wise.

Peace
Dan

rebornFixer

OutOfBreath wrote:

For the "If we ever went to the moon" crowd, is that suspicion based on any of the following busted myths recently tested in mythbusters?

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode-1 ... on-landing

It's a shame that they cut NASA funding, but not that surprising given the circumstances. It will probably triple again when China starts catching up space-wise.

Peace
Dan

Yeah, the whole "we never went to the moon" thing is probably one of the weakest conspiracy theories of the bunch.

rebornFixer

he still stands wrote:

yeah... like Velcro.

Tang ... Freeze-dried ice cream.

cajunkiwi

Kel Varnsen wrote:

rebornFixer wrote:

I have no problems with cuts in space funding, at least right now. In fact, I have long felt that there are enough problems on Earth. Put all the money that goes into space exploration toward alternative fuel technologies and biodiversity conservation.

Except Nasa does that kind of research. And if their funding gets cut, its not like it is going to some other program like that. Hydrogen fuel cells were developed as part of the Gemini program, and some of the most advanced and efficient water purification systems ever developed are used on the ISS since they essentially have to recycle every last drop of waste water and make it clean enough to drink again. If there was a mission to Mars even better water systems would need to be developed. Not to mention the ISS is completely powered using solar cells

+ 9 billion

It's amazing the things we use in everyday life without thinking about them that were invented by NASA while they were trying to find ways to operate in space

Jason P

NASA will still get their funding but it will be applied to more sensible projects. It is my opinions that deep space probes like the Cassini project are more beneficial to science than going to the moon.