(Marshall Perrin) wrote in message ...
"Bush said he would ask Congress for $12 billion during the next five years
for the research and development program, with $11 billion of that coming from
reallocating money from current NASA programs. "

Any idea what programs the $11B will be diverted from? I haven't seen any
rumors about what gets the axe yet...


While not a significant portion of NASA's budget compared to the
shuttle and station programs, I think NASA's RLV programs, including
X-37, will be cut. That's really the one part of the plan I disagree
with. I think it would be a shame to abandon RLV development and
focus solely on expendable vehicles.

What I'd like to see is the development of a heavy lift capability
(perhaps along the lines of "Shuttle C"), along with the simultaneous
development of a small reusable "space plane" along the lines of the
X-37 concept, and a fully resuable launch system for that space plane.
I don't know what's more important right now - moving beyond low
earth orbit ASAP or developing reusable vehicles that lower the cost
and risk of reaching LEO. It's a shame we can't to both!