NASA Budget Too Slim to Reach Moon by 2020, the Germans are coming....

[tocqueville]

A White House panel charged with reviewing NASA's exploration plans has dropped any hope of sending astronauts directly to Mars and found the space agency's budget too slim to accomplish its goal of returning humans to the moon by 2020.

After more than six hours of public deliberation on Wednesday, the 10-member committee overseeing the Review for U.S. Human Space Flight Plans decided not to include a plan to send astronauts straight to Mars - called Mars Direct - on its list of options to be considered by President Barack Obama because of its daunting challenges and cost.

..................

The committee strongly favored encouraging commercial vehicles for launching astronauts into orbit and suggested setting $2.5 billion aside between 2011 and 2014 to spur development in those spacecraft. It also included options that included spacecraft more heavily derived from current space shuttles, as well as current unmanned heavy-lift rockets like the Delta 4 Heavy and variants of NASA's giant Ares V rocket envisioned to launch lunar landers into orbit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090813/sc_space/nasabudgettooslimtoreachmoonby2020panelsays

which means that the US is grounded to 2020. US astronauts will have to hike on Russians/ESA to get to the ISS.

Germany Plans Robotic Lunar Landing by 2015, Government Says

By Rainer Buergin

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Germany plans to launch an unmanned mission to the moon by 2015 to showcase the country’s technological and scientific skills and raise interest in natural sciences, Deputy Economy Minister Peter Hintze said.

Germany may work together with the European Space Agency, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration or conduct the mission as a national venture, Hintze said. The project would cost 1.5 billion euros ($2.13 billion) over five years and would need the approval of the incoming government after the Sept. 27 national election, he said.

“All the important space-exploring nations are targeting the moon,” Hintze, the government’s aerospace coordinator, told reporters in Berlin today. “I’m in favor of putting our capabilities to use.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=a2HBAp2tCXwU

so Germany ALONE is putting as much money than the US.

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Too busy subduing muslim populations & creating more chinese debt to do anything else.

[drm604]

2. Maybe major manned missions should be international.

The expense of going to the Moon and Mars could be shared by all of the wealthy nations.

[Mythsaje]

3. I'll go for that...

Hell, I'd go for anything that will get us out there.

[Romulox]

4. Lotta new business on the moon, is there?

:eyes:

[Vidar]

5. If it isn't war or corporate welfare, the US isn't interested.

[Octafish]

6. Germans got us there the first time.

Thanks for the heads-up, toqueville.
NASA deserves a big chunk of the trillions the War Machine eats yearly.
We'd've solved the energy problem by now.
With all them energy satellites and hydrogen cars and space stuff,
We'd probably solve a wholelotta other problems, too.

[Call Me Wesley]

7. Heh!

They're already there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KEueJnsu80

Good 'ole Oberth and Wernher von Braun! ;)

[NightWatcher]

8. budget, yes, that's the ticket, we cant get there because of budget restraints

[RagAss]

9. Cleavage on the moon? I love it !