For those who say President Obama isn’t cutting back on spending, initial indications from the Augustine Committee effectively deciding on NASA’s course is that the current plan is too ambitious, and that the Moon might even be the wrong target. For NASA and the United States, this will mean some changes in the near future. We will need to accept the fact that the Chinese and Russians will beat us back to the Moon and that if the Augustine Committee has its way, that won’t be until near 2030, if no major budgetary increases are made.
Where’s the positive news? It seems NASA is taking a bigger interest in private spaceflight. There are numerous companies with the drive and financial backing to do what NASA can’t do right now, and that seems to be the wave of the future, an unfortunate thing when it comes to the ambitious missions the public has come to anticipate from NASA. The results aren’t final, but the news isn’t looking good. Stay tuned…