Budget constrains mean axe for US space program

Talk of the U.S. returning a man to the moon by 2020 appears to be out the window. This year’s federal budget is expected to abandon the idea of NASA running space missions for the foreseeable future.

Instead NASA will now become more of a supervisory body, overseeing privately-run missions. A former NASA administrator says it’s too early for that approach to be practical, likening it to trying to sell 747s to PanAm before Lindbergh had flown the Atlantic.

The proposed budget is expected to increase NASA funding by around $1 billion a year. Had the recommendations of a presidential advisory panel for a lunar mission as a precursor to one day landing on Mars gone ahead, the increase would have needed to be more like $3 billion. That makes it exceedingly likely the change in tactics is down to a belief that such expenditure can no longer be justified given the wider federal financial picture.

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