NASA's Cashflow Problem Puts Moon Trip In Doubt

krou writes "According to the Guardian, the Augustine panel is going to declare that there is simply no money to go back to the moon, and the next-generation Ares I rocket is likely to be scrapped unless there is more funding. The $81B Constellation Program's long-term goal of putting a human on Mars is almost certainly not going to be possible by the middle of the century. The options outlined by the panel for the future of NASA 'are to extend the working life of the aging space shuttle fleet beyond next year's scheduled retirement until 2015, while developing a cheaper transport to the moon; pressing ahead with Constellation as quickly as existing funding allows; or creating a new, larger rocket that would allow exploration of the solar system while bypassing the moon.' All of this means that NASA won't be back on the moon before the end of the next decade as hoped, 'or even leaving lower Earth orbit for at least another two decades.' Another result of the monetary black hole is that they don't have the '$300m to expand a network of telescopes and meet the government's target of identifying, by 2020, at least 90% of the giant space rocks that pose a threat to Earth.'"

Comments

Re:Cash flow problem...

[Ralph Spoilsport]

i disagree- I think the USA is in not-quite a death spiral. It has exceeded its reach and the last time I checked (earlier today) it's in debt so deeply (11.65 trillions dollars) that if it was EVER able to pay down the debt at the rate of 1 million dollars a day (which it has NEVER been able to do on a consistent ongoing basis) it would take approximately 31,917 YEARS to pay it off. If it paid down the debt 1000x faster (1 Billion dollars a day) it would still take almost 32 years to pay.

The answer is: it's not getting paid. It will never get paid. And once everyone figures that out they will ditch the USA like a hot potato.

Re:How can the federal deficit be blamed?

[multiplexo]

Because it certainly has not had any impact on the orgy of irresponsible spending of President Obama and his fellow Democrats.

Shut the fuck up you worthless Republican pile of shit. Where were you when George W. Bush and his fellow Republicans were presiding over the most massive expansion in the federal government since Lyndon Johnson was president? Medicare Part D? The Iraq War. The massive deficits. All of this spending happened with a Republican in the White House and you didn't say a goddamned thing about it, because back then, according to your God, Dick Cheney, "deficits don't matter". But let a black Democrat come in, one who actually budgets honestly instead of trying to hide the costs of the Iraq War with budget games and all of a sudden you're whining about the irresponsible spending of Barack Obama and the Democrats. People like you are just too goddamned fucking stupid to live in this country. You should be rounded up and sold into slavery in North Korea or China, the best thing that you could ever hope to do with your life is die from lead poisoning after a short and miserable life slaving away in a communist prison factory.