Commission: NASA’s going nowhere

NASA can’t afford to return to the moon. And it hasn’t a prayer of putting a person on Mars. In fact, it doesn’t have enough budget to continue getting astronauts into space—unless it buys rides on Russian spacecraft.

The Augustine Commission is going to tell the truth.  Unvarnished. The United States has chosen to pull back from manned spaceflight—or else it would have provided the required money.

It should be interesting to watch the next few years as China pulls ahead. And who knows who else? If the Russians could pull together a few dollars, they’ve got some impressive expertise. In any case, it appears that the literal “high ground” is being ceded to some other country.

It’s the end of manned space exploration for the U.S. for the foreseeable future. As former astronaut Sally Ride notes: “We haven’t found a scenario that includes exploration that’s viable.”

Now, it seems both NASA itself (which has claimed it was on track for a return to the moon) and grandstanding politicians (like, in the last few decades, both president’s Bush) will have to admit it—we’re not a space-faring nation any more.