I have some time to review other space blogs right now (an advantage of doing business with the US – if it is a holiday over there, I’ve some spare time, too ;)). I read this interesting report on potential cuts into NASA’s budget:
Spaceports: Obama Would Delay Moon Return
I do not like the idea at all. What needs to be known is that the money that fuels NASA’s Constellation moon program already is taken from the regular budget. There was no budget increase that came together with the plan to go to the moon again. NASA’s science program is already suffering very badly.
If now additional funds are taken from NASA’s budget, that would IMHO severely compromise NASA’s ability to do useful missions. Not to mention that fact that it would be depending on Russia for all its manned space flight activities for at least a decade.
Even though I am German, I do not at all like this idea. But, granted, it’s the same problem everywhere: Germany cut the space budget that much that even though we have a number of slot in current ESA and NASA missions, we do not have any funding left to use them :( …