Pluto Mission Apparently Cancelled

hey! writes "This just in at space.com -- new details of the Bush NASA budget. It looks like the Pluto-Kuiper express has been cancelled -- possibly our last chance for centuries to get a closeup look at Pluto's atmosphere. As Jupiter moves out of position for gravity assist and Pluto moves further from the Sun it's atmosphere will begin to freeze. My favorite line in the report -- ISS will get increased "consistent with a strategy of constraining space station cost growth." OK, they're talking about being pound wise and penny foolish, but you can't pass up an Orwellian straight line like that."

Comments

ISS expenses

[rjh]

If the Administration hadn't expressed an interest in constraining budget growth of the ISS, I'd be worried.

Anyone want to post hard numbers on exactly how many billions of dollars the ISS is over-budget? How much of our "financial aid" to Russia has really been "please, take this bribe and keep Baikonur operating a little while longer"?

The ISS is hugely, massively overbudget. The Administration's expressed interest in constraining more costs is prudence, not Visigothism. Saying "this thing is already several billion overbudget, and we don't want to see it grow one dollar moreso" is a great deal different from saying "we're not going to give this the funding it needs".

While I'm adamantly in favor of the space program and long-term habitation in space, I'm not in favor of the idea (which some Slashdotters seem to agree with) that any level of funding is acceptable, and any constraint on funding is neo-Luddism.

this just in

[slashdoter]

This just in......

Aliens on pluto are reportedly unhappy with the decision, as they can now not live up to a bet they made last year with the Martians to crash the probe. The Martians are said to be joyful over the news because pluto now has to change it's name to snoopy.....

________

This makes me sad.

[Mr. Flibble]

[B]ut you can't pass up an Orwellian straight line like that.

Sadly it looks like they can. Science or the pursuit of knowlege is usually one of the first things to go in times of trouble. I am not an American, but I would hardly call the times in the U.S. "troubled". I fear that the constant downgrading of NASA is perhaps that warning sign of trouble.

There is simply too much "lack of caring" for scientific (or more specifically skeptical) thinking in North America, things like the "outlawing" of evolutionary instruction are, like the NASA "A Blueprint for New Beginnings" dangerous. Sure, the budget is 2% greater than 2001, but with the space station all the money is put towards that.

Expect to see even more "cheaper, faster" but not "better" space exploring craft in the future.

I have a bad feeling about this.

Still a chance for Pluto...

[Ecyrd]

To quote the document which the Slashdot reference refers to:

To support a potential, future sprint to the planet Pluto before 2020, additional funds will be directed to key propulsion technology investments.

I think this is an excellent idea: The Deep Space 1 probe has already pretty much proven that ion drive works, and more interesting propulsion technologies exist on the drawing board. Not only the Pluto-Kuiper program will benefit from this (the Kuiper belt will still be there) but other probe programs as well (except maybe Moon probes, but they ain't that interesting anyway).

The whole budget thing seems to me like GWB is shaking a stick at NASA, saying that they must start to think about the commercialization of space, and to build more reliable stuff.

It isn't all bad, IMHO. It could be a lot worse.

Project was scuttled pre-Bush...

[Anonymous Coward]

According to NASA:

2000/09/13 - A NASA stop work order has been issued for The Pluto-Kuiper Express mission as currently envisioned. Further direction from NASA has been given to develop a new mission to reach Pluto before 2020.

Note that the date is last September, which is before the US Election debacle. To you Bush haters out there, please understand the facts of the situation before you immediately jump all over Dubya.

Re:Project was scuttled pre-Bush...

[hey!]

Actually, the stop work order doesn't mean the project is necessarily cancelled, but that it is expected to be cancelled. It would be more accurate to say that the Clinton administration set the nail and the Bush administration is driving it home.

This definitely has the fingerprints of the beltway mandarins all over it. For one thing it's so early in the GWB adminisgtration for any of these kinds of projects to appear on his radar screen. However, even if it somehow did, I expect that it would not be revived. Combining the Bush tax cut and deficit reduction plans, there's simply no chance for a program like this. This is a man who when asked what his favorite book growing up was, drew a blank.

This is not a Democrat vs. Republican thing, it's a people who believe in basic research and exploration vs. people who are interested in short term financial issues. Maybe those folks are more practical, but I'd hate to be those people who don't look up at the milky way and wonder how all our creations, from Shakespeare to the stock market, could arise from the dust of stellar explosions.

The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

Greatness in a nation doesn't arise from constant juggling marginal benefits, but from acts of daring and imagination. The Portuguese were entirely right, by their own way of looking things, to send Columbus packing. It was Spain that became the great empire.

Re:US Space Policy

[drsoran]

Cost of manned mission to Mars as estimated by NASA: $ 20 billion.

Estimated cost of national missile defense system: $ 60 billion.

President Bush accidently shooting down the Shuttle while playing aboard a US Nuclear Submarine: Priceless.

YHBT. YHL. HAND.

[tbo]

If you read the troll FAQ (sorry, don't have the link), you'll recognize this as a classic troll. First sentence is entirely reasonable, but, as the post progesses, it becomes more and more inflammatory. The closing line, "NASA is finally doing something useful.", is the closing barb...

If you don't believe me, check qpt's user info and look at his comment history. See how many -1's qpt has posted? There are also some 3's and 4's, suggesting that he's a pretty successful troll.

Just so I don't wander too far off-topic, I'll analyze and rebut one line:

Far too much effort is being wasted in superfluous programs that have no real chance of every producing a usable application.

Yeah, like quantum mechanics. Oh, wait, about a third of all technology invented in the past 50 years involves QM (directly or indirectly). Think semiconductors, high-temp superconductors, laser diodes...

And what the hell was up with those crazy Watson and Crick guys who were playing with a double helix? And that Newton guy...

I dare you to name a single scientific theory that's at least 50 years old and hasn't been useful.

I could go on, but it's just a troll. If you fell for it (as the moderators have), you should be ashamed of yourself.