NASA's uncertain course

The Obama administration is charting a new direction for the space agency. Is it the right one?

What is NASA’s status?

It’s in limbo. The federal budget squeeze has sapped the space program’s ambitions, and the public’s fascination with space exploration has dwindled ever since its high point during the first moon landing, in 1969. One recent poll found that by a 50 percent to 31 percent margin, Americans say that given the current state of the economy, the U.S. should cut back on space exploration. NASA was given a temporary reprieve when President George W. Bush launched the Constellation program, which was aimed at designing and developing spacecraft to send astronauts back to the moon, establish a manned base there, and then launch a mission to Mars. But a government panel recently concluded that Constellation would need an additional $45 billion to $60 billion to achieve those goals. As a result, President Obama has proposed killing Constellation and moving NASA in a radically different direction.

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