Fred J. McCall wrote:

Robert Clark wrote:

:On Oct 8, 11:51Â*am, Fred J. McCall wrote:
: Robert Clark wrote:
:
: :
: :Obama voices support for space funding, leadership.
: :BY CRAIG COVAULT
: :SPACEFLIGHT NOW
: :Posted: October 7, 2009
: :"Obama said that to remain competitive it is critical for the U.S. to
: :increase federally funded research and development projects and that
: :he wants to significantly boost funding for such programs to a
: :sustained level of 3% of Gross National Product (GDP). The current
: :level is about 2.4% according to the Congressional Budget Office."
: :...
:
: The question is just WHICH R&D he wants to fund. Â*Aerospace and
: Defense don't seem to be it. Â*He's talking about 'green energy' and
: such.
:
: --
:
:
: I don't believe so. Not when the science advisor John Holdren talks
:specifically about shortfalls in the Bush plan:
:
:"Sources tell Spaceflight Now that Holdren has received those options
:favorably and expressed optimism that the White House can help with
:funding shortfalls toward modification of the Bush plan."
:

Yes. He wants to 'modify it' into an Earth Science plan. No Moon. No
Mars. Global Warming and Ozone Hole, anyone? That's the space
program we're going to get.


Which will require no Research, and damned little Development.
Keep watching - the argument _will_ be made that we can defer exploration -
set it aside and pick it up later. That argument is arrant nonsense
In all my studies of the History of technology, I've yet to see any case
whare efforts that were deliberately abandoned were ever restarted.
It just won't happen.
What will happen is that other nations, or entities with similar resources,
will see the resulting gap as an opportunity, and strive to fill it, or
portions of it, themselves. (This is what happened with expendable launch
vehicles in the 1980s and 1990s)


--
Pete Stickney
The better the Four Wheel Drive, the further out you get stuck.