Panel: budgets don't match exploration plans
Posted: Fri, Aug 14, 2009, 11:24 AM ET (1524 GMT)
NASA's current exploration plans cannot be achieved on the current timeline without the infusion of an additional $50 billion over the next decade, and alternatives also require either additional spending or stretched timelines, a panel concluded Wednesday. The Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee, also known as the Augustine Committee after chairman Norm Augustine, discussed several approaches to NASA's exploration plans in its final public hearing in Washington. In order for NASA to achieve its current goal of landing humans on the Moon by 2020, the agency would need an additional $50 billion. Several alternatives the panel is looking at range from an ISS-focused option, a proposal that would push back the lunar return until later in the 2020s, and a "deep space" option that would defer lunar landings in favor lunar orbital, NEO, and Mars orbital missions. Those options, though, would in some cases still require several billion dollars a year in additional funding to implement. The panel is scheduled to deliver its final report to the White House at the end of the month.
NASA's current exploration plans cannot be achieved on the current timeline without the infusion of an additional $50 billion over the next decade, and alternatives also require either additional spending or stretched timelines, a panel concluded Wednesday. The Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee, also known as the Augustine Committee after chairman Norm Augustine, discussed several approaches to NASA's exploration plans in its final public hearing in Washington. In order for NASA to achieve its current goal of landing humans on the Moon by 2020, the agency would need an additional $50 billion. Several alternatives the panel is looking at range from an ISS-focused option, a proposal that would push back the lunar return until later in the 2020s, and a "deep space" option that would defer lunar landings in favor lunar orbital, NEO, and Mars orbital missions. Those options, though, would in some cases still require several billion dollars a year in additional funding to implement. The panel is scheduled to deliver its final report to the White House at the end of the month.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, February 19
More than 150 employees made redundant as rocket manufacturer officially enters administration
Inverness (UK) Courier — 6:40 am ET (1140 GMT) Orbex appoints FRP as administrators, advisory firm says
Global Banking and Finance Review — 6:39 am ET (1139 GMT) More than 150 staff facing axe as Scots manufacturing firm plunges into administration
The Sun — 6:39 am ET (1139 GMT) Scots space rocket company enters administration
STV — 6:38 am ET (1138 GMT) FRP Advisory administrators appointed to Scottish space launch company Orbex
Scottish Financial News — 6:38 am ET (1138 GMT) |
