NASA's Plans for the Future

FleaPlus writes "ABC News, Pasadena Star-News, and Space Politics report on a recent statement by NASA chief Michael Griffin on NASA's plans for the future and how it will be reflected in their annual budget. Griffin has ordered preparations for one last shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. He also plans to greatly accelerate development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle to have it ready when the Space Shuttles retire in 2010, stating that the CEV 'needs to be safe, it needs to be simple, it needs to be soon.' Some other highlights include $34 million for the Centennial Challenges prize program and the possibility of completing the space station with unmanned rockets after the shuttles retire. However, due to budget limitations, the cost of returning the Space Shuttles to flight, and over $400 million in Congressional earmarks, a number of other areas will see delays, including space station, aeronautics, and exploration research. NASA also plans on restructuring Project Prometheus to focus on developing space-qualified nuclear power systems for use in human and robotic surface operations, instead of a probe to Jupiter's moons." The Washington Post has a look at NASA's future as well.

Comments

Re:If America and Russia only would cooperate ...

[Anonymous Coward]

It has already been done- it's called the Atlas V. Using kick-ass Russian engine technology combined with the most efficient aerostructures in the world and decent avionics it delivers the lowest cost per pound (at least for a machine made by people making a wage above a few hundred a month) to orbit and can deliver more to the ISS than a shuttle can.

Re:Space is boring

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree.

The final insult is that the blurry pictures of frozen mud from Titan where taken by a european probe, not even a NASA project.