ISS science sacrificed on Martian altar

[Quoting ...]

' NASA is planning to slash millions of dollars from the International
Space Station's science budget in a bid to find the cash it needs to
fulfil President Bush's ambition to return to the moon, and journey to
Mars. Somehow, the agency needs to lay its hands on an extra $5bn of
funding.

The space agency is cutting $344m from the ISS' budget next year, The
Guardian reports, by canning the station's research programme. Hundreds
of contractors are being laid off, and many experiments are simply
being cancelled, the paper says.

Michael Griffin, NASA administrator, explained that he has had to put
the station's construction ahead of the science. Addressing the US
House committee on science he said:

"It seemed to me it was getting the cart before the horse to be
worrying about money for human or other life sciences when we could not
assure ourselves the continued capability to be able to place people in
orbit in the first place."

While the cuts will not be good news for those directly affected, many
space scientists have regarded the space station as being very poor
value for money in terms of the research output.

It is also way over budget and long overdue: it was supposed to cost
$18bn and be complete by 2003. Instead it has been something of a black
hole for NASA's funds. So far the US is estimated to have spent over
$100bn on its share of the ISS, and it is not likely to be finished
before 2017. ...'

[ .... End Quote]

See http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/15/iss_mars_moon/

"Raving Loonie" wrote in message...
ups.com...

[Quoting ...]

' NASA is planning to slash millions of dollars from the International
Space Station's science budget in a bid to find the cash it needs to
fulfil President Bush's ambition to return to the moon, and journey to
Mars. Somehow, the agency needs to lay its hands on an extra $5bn of
funding.

The space agency is cutting $344m from the ISS' budget next year, The
Guardian reports, by canning the station's research programme. Hundreds
of contractors are being laid off, and many experiments are simply
being cancelled, the paper says.

Michael Griffin, NASA administrator, explained that he has had to put
the station's construction ahead of the science. Addressing the US
House committee on science he said:

"It seemed to me it was getting the cart before the horse to be
worrying about money for human or other life sciences when we could not
assure ourselves the continued capability to be able to place people in
orbit in the first place."

While the cuts will not be good news for those directly affected, many
space scientists have regarded the space station as being very poor
value for money in terms of the research output.

It is also way over budget and long overdue: it was supposed to cost
$18bn and be complete by 2003. Instead it has been something of a black
hole for NASA's funds. So far the US is estimated to have spent over
$100bn on its share of the ISS, and it is not likely to be finished
before 2017. ...'

[ .... End Quote]

See http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/15/iss_mars_moon/

Sometimes life is a trade-off, RL. While it's pretty cool to
keep track of the ISS and watch it when weather allows, it's
also pretty cool to think what we may and may not find when
we actually set foot on Mars' enigmatic surface!

It would be nice to have our cake and eat it, too. But if it all
comes down to a choice between Mars exploration and ISS
quick completion, i'll go for Mars exploration every time!...

http://www.marssociety.org/about/purpose.asp

happy days and...
starry starry nights!

--
Twinkle twinkle little star,
I don't wonder what you are,
What i *really* want to see...
Is there someone there like me?

http://www.seti.org/

Indelibly yours,
Paine http://www.savethechildren.org/
http://www.painellsworth.net/