Return to the Moon not on as Obama changes direction for NASA
Friday, January 29, 2010 at 01:35PM 
The Obama administration will not continue to fund the so-called Constellation space exploration program announced by George W. Bush. The program, announced in 2003 after the space shuttle Discovery disaster, aimed to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 and expand manned exploration to Mars. President Obama is to reveal his space plans on February 1 in his 2011 budget request, but it is widely reported that Constellation as now conceived will not survive.
At the heart of the program is the development of new Ares I and Ares V rockets and Orion crew capsules to replace the shuttles. The shuttle program is to end this year. The Constellation program is behind schedule and over budget, and there are serious doubts as to whether it will be in operation in time to serve the International Space Station before 2015 when it is scheduled to be scrapped.
An Obama-appointed panel chaired by former Lockheed Martin Corp. Chairman Norman Augustine, studied the program and concluded that it was not viable at current financing levels. It also argued that allowing private companies to build and launch spacecraft to carry astronauts into orbit would save money and free up NASA to focus on more ambitious, longer-term goals.
The administration is known to be cool to the idea of returning to the moon. President Obama is said to favour the idea of developing a new rocket to take crews into orbit, and to rely on commercial rockets to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. Money is to be made available to help private companies develop the rockets to carry astronauts there.
This position has drawn criticism from Florida's "Space Coast" Senator Nelson, a former NASA astronaut, and Representative Suzanne Kosmas, both Democrats. The end of the shuttle program this year will already mean the loss of 7,000 jobs in the area. Rep. Kosmas released a statement that accused the president of "falling short" of his promise to "minimize the spaceflight gap" and provide "bold vision for the future of space exploration."
"It is simply unacceptable and I will fight back, along with my colleagues from both parties, to maintain a robust space program and to preserve as many Space Coast jobs as possible."
Without the Constellation program and American commitment to space exploration, the United States risks losing its leadership in space to Russia and China, according to Senator Nelson. Even India, whose previous forays into space have been confined to launching communications satellites, has now announced plans for manned space flight by the middle of this decade.
The new proposals are certain to face a tough fight in Congress. The administration is barred from changing NASA's course without congressional review.
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