Thursday, March 12, 2009

NASA: A little less optimism

COMMENT:
I said a few days ago that President Obama's FY10 NASA budget gave me a little hope for the agency. Now, I'm not so sure.
First, the President to an audience in Orlando the agency was "adrift" without goals. Not true at all: the goals have been set since the Vision for Space Exploration was unveiled in 2004, and Obama has apparently supported (at least, he has never repudiated) them. Second, a commentator on this NASAWatch thread points out that recent long-range budget plans indicate continued bad news for NASA. A 2004 projection indicated the agency's 2020 budget would be about $22B. The 2009 guidelines show it static compared to today at $19B.
I think "NASA" really stands for "Never Adequately Supported by Anyone."

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