President Obama wants to ground the space program into reality
By Mike Ferro
The NASA space program has been the subject of much debate. The program has been on a 20-year roller coaster with ups and downs. The program was finally getting the push it needed during the Bush Administration, but with the current state of the economy and President Obama in office the program might get grounded in reality.
Many assumed that the promises made during the Bush Administration in 2004, indicating the support of the stagnant space program were part of the election period spiel. However, the Bush Administration did keep its promise as a detailed plan was drawn out to complete the space station and retire the shuttles by 2010. It was estimated that this move would free up $4 billion per year, which could then be used towards advancement of the space program.
President Obama rode in on the same type of spiel, but the reality of the recession is starting to hit hard. According to Information Week, with the mounting multibillion budget deficit, costs will have to be cut somewhere and the space program is looking like a candidate.
The recent bank and auto industry bailout is straining the economy far more than it would have been had it not been for the recession. As planned during the Bush Administration, NASA has proceeded to cut jobs in anticipation of the retirement of the fleet of space shuttles.
However, President Obama on Thursday ordered a full on review of the Ares and Orion program. The program is currently in the midst of building a super fancy space shuttle that is capable of taking humans further into space then before. The Ares and Orion program was developed as part of George W. Bush’s “Vision for Space Exploration.”
The program is scheduled to complete by 2014. It is difficult to say if the program will be postponed or cut at this point but it will be interesting to see if President Obama will divert funds from the space program to help solve the economic crisis.
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