NASA deputy administrator LORI GARVER, a widely known advocate for development of commercial spacecraft, said the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION remains committed to ensuring that our astronauts are once again launched from U.S. soil on AMERICAN-MADE SPACECRAFT, and this budget provides the funds to make this a reality."
NASA's latest budget proposal leaves Europe without a key partner for a proposed two-spacecraft mission to collect and return soil samples from Mars. The so-called Exobiology on Mars, or EXOMARS, probes are targeted to launch in 2016 and 2018.
The budget comes as Obama is seeking re-election and it is widely regarded in Washington as a document that has little chance of being voted into law as is. The House and Senate will commence review and Congressional hearings before acting on the FINAL BUDGET DOCUMENT later this year with political wrangling over the specifics ahead.
THE PLANETARY SOCIETY had strong words for the NASA budget document saying, the Obama Administration "IS PROPOSING A BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013 THAT WOULD FORCE NASA TO WALK AWAY FROM PLANNED MISSIONS TO MARS, DELAY FOR DECADES ANY FLAGSHIP MISSIONS TO THE OUTER PLANETS, AND RADICALLY SLOW THE PACE OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY, INCLUDING THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS."
"WHY SPEND MONEY ON NASA WHEN WE NEED THAT MONEY HERE ON EARTH?" There are two answers to this offered by Phil Plait, "THE BAD ASTRONOMER"," actually: a short, practical one, and a longer, more philosophical one. But both give the same answer: spending money on space exploration is important, and we should be spending more, not less.
Source: umad-mysteries.blogspot.com
