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America’s vanishing manned space program

The debate over America’s human presence in space has begun.

Since the start of the Obama Administration, NASA’s emphasis has altered dramatically, as financial support for exploration and space operations, including human flight, has been slashed by 7.9%. Meanwhile, earth science, including both legitimate research as well as questionable endeavors primarily designed to bolster the President’s climate change agenda, experienced a 41% increase. A General Accounting Office study found that “NASA had not matched resources to requirements” for programs related to human space flight.

In addition to funding shifts, ideological changes were imposed as well. NASA chief Charles Bolden made a bizarre remark .  in 2010  that one of NASA’s chief goals was to reach out to Moslems.

Critics have not hidden their disdain for the course NASA has been given under the current White House. John L. Casey, a former White House space policy advisor, stated in a recent exclusive interview on the Vernuccio/Novak Report that NASA was engaging in “data doctoring” to support global warming theory advocates and essentially ignoring its core mission.

Human space flight was essentially removed from NASA’s short-term goals in 2010 when Mr. Obama cancelled the Constellation program,after prematurely ending the space shuttle program. The U.S. remains dependent on Russia to place astronauts in space. While underfunded work very slowly proceeds on plans for the future Orion crewed vehicle and the related Space Launch System, both are essentially updates on concepts originally designed in the late 1960’s and do not represent a significant path for a return to American preeminence in space. Neither of these efforts will actually be capable of putting astronauts in space, if ever, until after the Obama Administration leaves office.
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The White House counters criticism by stating their support for NASA’s manned space efforts, emphasizing its support ($438.8 increase requested) for development of commercially operated spacecraft, part of a modest $519 million hike in the agency’s overall budget. However, the Orion and Space Launch System programs, which are the only significant NASA efforts to restore America’s ability to put astronauts into space, would endure a combined $2.8 billion reduction in the 2016 budget.

House Science Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-Texas), quoted in Spacenews, noted “The President’s words mean nothing if crucial priorities such as SLS and Orion aren’t given the funding they need in his budget request.”

Following the Republican capture of the Senate in the 2014 elections, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) was named as chair of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness. He is seeking to re-emphasize NASA’s original mission, and noted, at the start of hearings on NASA’s 2016 budget:

“As we begin the process of putting a road map together for the future of NASA there is one vital question that this committee should examine. Should NASA focus primarily inwards or outwards beyond lower-Earth orbit? Since the end of the last administration we have seen a disproportionate increase in the amount of federal funds that have been allocated to the Earth Science program at the expense of and compared to Exploration and Space Operations, Planetary Science, Heliophysics and Astrophysics which I believe are all rooted in exploration and should be central to the core mission of NASA.”

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Still Lost in Space

Increasingly, NASA appears to be adrift, still capable of great individual deeds but without a clear direction.

Although it continues to get verbal support, the goal of placing American astronauts on Mars was for all practical purposes abandoned by the Obama Administration. So, too, was the Constellation program, which was supposed to be the successor for the Space Shuttle.  That decision also effectively ended U.S. plans to return to the Moon.

There is no current means for US citizens to reach space other than by hitching a ride on Russian craft, a severe humiliation for what was once the world’s preeminent space agency.

Advocates of manned space flight angrily point out that if the White House was intent on cancelling the follow-up to the Shuttle program, it could have kept the Shuttle program alive for several more years.

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NASA’s woes extend beyond manned space flight.  One of the most crucial endeavors the Space Agency is engaged in is cataloging interplanetary objects that could potentially strike the Earth with catastrophic consequences, producing results similar to that which caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. A report just released by NASA’s Inspector General discloses that a lack of structure and resources threatens this mission which is, literally, a matter of life and death for the entire planet.

There is some good news, coming primarily from the private sector.  NASA has contracted  with Boeing and SpaceX to build a “Space Taxi” to take Americans to and from the Space Station, freeing the U.S. from dependence on the Russians.

Nasa, announcing the deal, stated in a press release that “U.S. astronauts once again will travel to and from the International Space Station from the United States on American spacecraft under groundbreaking contracts NASA announced Tuesday. The agency unveiled its selection of Boeing and SpaceX to transport U.S. crews to and from the space station using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft, respectively, with a goal of ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia in 2017.”

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Why is America dependent upon Russia for space technology?

The irrational policy of dependence upon Russia for launching American astronauts into space, and using Russian rocket engines for American military payloads is unraveling.  This was an almost inevitable result, and the key question to be addressed is what led the U.S. to the bizarre position of reliance on a geopolitical rival for these key functions.

In a statement by Moscow’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Head of the Federal Space Agency Oleg Ostapenko on international space cooperation ,  the Russian Federation outlined its plans to cease providing these space-related products and services to the U.S. in response to American sanctions in the wake of the Ukraine crisis as well as several other complaints.

Ironically, the Space Station, the chief current destination for space farers, was originally an American concept (originally called Space Station Freedom) initiated by President Reagan. It was eventually merged with Moscow’s plans for a MIR-2 outpost.  Construction of the project was largely a joint US-Russian endeavor, with the space shuttles playing a vital role.  Other nations also participated.
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The entire incident again calls into question the logic of eliminating the space shuttle program before a new craft could be substituted, ending America’s ability to launch astronauts until an uncertain date in the distant future. Originally, this inability was to be relatively brief, as a new system (Constellation) was to be developed in a relatively brief span.  However, the Obama Administration placed its financial priorities elsewhere, and it is unlikely that American astronauts will return to space in NASA craft within the decade.

It also brings into focus the decreased emphasis on building the high-tech engineering and scientific infrastructure the U.S. needs to insure that the nation has the economic and military security it requires. This vital issue has dramatic ramifications both financially and geopolitically, and needs to be resolved rapidly.

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America’s Manned Space Program Vanishing

Nations that look to their future needs and opportunities, despite current challenges, tend to succeed.  Those that don’t risk being consigned to the dustbin of history.

In terms of technology, national security, and economic expansion, funding support for NASA represents a clear example of how vested the nation’s leadership is in developing a bright future for the country. That’s why the 1%, $186 million cut in NASA’s budget, from $17.646 billion to $17.460 has many worried. In a time of unacceptable deficits, the reduction may at first appear small, until a closer examination reveals that even without the cut, the space agency was significantly underfunded.

In a move that encapsulates the President’s shaky relations with the legislative branch, he reneged on a funding agreement that had been reached previously about the space agency’s budget.

The evidence is clear cut, especially in comparison to other nations that are now surpassing America. China is pursuing a vigorous program, including the orbiting of its own crewed space station and the development of plans to put a manned base on the moon. Russia, too, has ambitious plans. Right now, those two nations, both deeply antagonistic to the U.S., are the only countries capable of putting humans into space.  America’s return to the high frontier continues to slip further into the future.

Even after knowing those negative impacts of social media and networking canada pharmacy viagra sites. They do not discuss their issues easily. canadian pharmacies tadalafil Are you blighted cheap viagra generic by a total lack of erection, while many men face an irregularity with erection disorder might not get Erection disorder drugs, the unnaturally made types have been verified to show damaging unintended effects. Reduced levels of testosterone lower desire for lovemaking. cheap buy viagra An unusually blunt and furious exchange took place in Congress recently between Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. Brooks has long criticized President Obama’s decision to end the ability of the U.S. to put astronauts in orbit by eliminating the space shuttles.

“This Administration,” Brooks stated, “Made the decision to mothball our space shuttles and put them in museums rather than keeping them available…”   His comments, reported by MSNBC,  lambasted the White House’s funding priorities by stating that Obama spends “40 times more on welfare programs that put a high priority on buying election votes no matter the loss of funding for NASA, national defense, or other productive functions of the federal government.”

Some of the criticism is bipartisan.  The powerful head of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee, Democrat Barbara Milkulski (D-Maryland) has vowed to restore funding at least to last year’s level.

Manned space programs have been particularly hard hit. The Chair of the House Space and Aeronautics subcommittee, Rep. Stephen Palazzo (R-Mississippi) has called the cumulative $330 million reduction to the development of  Orion manned space craft and the Space Launch System designed to put that craft into space unacceptable. The goal of using commercial craft developed by U.S. companies to put Americans into space has been delayed until 2017, leaving America reliant on Russia.