2 years, 10 months ago
Will US budget cuts delay a mission to Mars? Will Mars be the "New Frontier"?
Will NASA experience severe cut backs in government spending?
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M$1 Answer
On the contrary, the trend seemed to go in the opposite direction by way of killing several scientific projects in order to divert funding for the Moon exploration program, a transitional step for the Mars attempt... which will be undoubtly the new frontier.
NASA’s announced in February 2006 that its budget has been effectively capped science spending for the five-year period from 2007 to 2011. It was part of Bush’s budget cuts to federal science spending by 1 percent to $59.8 billion. Programs designed to investigate fundamental scientific questions about the character of the solar system and the universe have been sacrificed to enable NASA to carry out President George Bush’s plan to establish a permanent settlement on the moon in preparation for a manned mission to Mars.
Several NASA programs were delayed, including:
* The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission
* The Space Interferometry Mission PlanetQuest (SIM)
* The Orbiting Carbon Observatory
* The Landsat Data Continuity Mission
* The Space Interferometry Mission
* The Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WISE)
Other NASA projects have been deferred indefinitely or scrapped altogether, including:
* The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) mission
* A mission to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons
* The Laser Interferometry Space Antenna (LISA)
* The Constellation-X Observatory
* The Mars Sample Return
* The NuSTAR project
* The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)
* The Hydrosphere State (Hydros)
* The Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM)
Under the Bush administration the Moon program was spected to grow by 30 percent to $3.98 billion in 2007. There was also an additional $2.6 billion for the International Space Station (ISS). It was aimed to establish a permanent manned lunar presence by the year 2020 in preparation for the future exploration and colonization of Mars.
The NASA cuts produced rage among scientists in the US and abroad. Some declared on elimination of programs that have taken decades to establish that “Space science was not just cut; it was eviscerated".
Now, under the Obama administration the trend seems to shift for a budget reduction. As of June 2009 NASA is undertaking its "Obama-ordered review" of its future human spaceflight plans, the space agency must now factor in a Congressionally recommended 16 percent cut to its budget for manned space exploration in 2010.
..but, as with all appropriations bills considered in the annual federal budget process, final approved spending levels may be adjusted up or down during the bills’ consideration by the full House and Senate. Meaning the full Congress may restore the full amount requested by NASA for space exploration... the Moon program and consequently... the trip to Mars.
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