A White House panel charged with reviewing NASA's exploration plans has dropped any hope of sending astronauts directly to Mars and found the space agency's budget too slim to accomplish its goal of returning humans to the moon by 2020.
After more than six hours of public deliberation on Wednesday, the 10-member committee overseeing the Review for U.S. Human Space Flight Plans decided not to include a plan to send astronauts straight to Mars - called Mars Direct - on its list of options to be considered by President Barack Obama because of its daunting challenges and cost.
"We think Mars Direct is a mission that we're really not prepared to take on technically or financially, and it would likely not succeed," said the committee's chairman Norman Augustine, a former Lockheed Martin CEO, late Wednesday after the televised meeting in Washington, D.C. "I really want to emphasize that we're not giving up on Mars at all."
A manned Mars mission is the ultimate goal, but shifting all of NASA's focus on getting there as soon as possible is not feasible, he added.
http://www.space.com/news/090812-nasa-spaceflight-options-refined.html
Panel says not enough funds for Mars or the Moon
The whole thread (59 posts)
- Panel says not enough funds for Mars or the Moon
- Thanks To Everyone For A Great Thread
- Forget the Moon. Forget Mars.
- re: Forget the Moon. Forget Mars.
- Forget Lifeless Rocks?
- Whats wrong with geology?
- NASA's focus on Exobiology is turning out to be a pact with the devil
- This "lifeless rocks" attitude is one reason why NASA is in the trouble it is in now
- Whats wrong with geology?
- Just how bad...
- NEA and Phobos missions...