Most of the emerging private space companies are thrilled that the new NASA moon and beyond program—called Constellation—is probably going to be killed. I’m not sure why this is—there’s plenty of room for private companies to send astronauts into earth orbit. And private companies are a long way from sending people to the moon and [...]

The Senate passed an $18.7 billion funding bill for NASA, including $3.8 billion for exploration. Beyond that, the Senate inserted language into the bill designed to protect the Constellation Program—NASA’s planned successor to the retiring space shuttle.
Will Constellation (the Ares rocket and Orion spacecraft) survive?
Well, first of all, the President has to sign the bill. [...]

Yes. You read that right.
The headlines portrays the Augustine commission’s position as a call for a “public-private partnership” for manned space travel. But what’s important here is what’s NOT being emphasized. The commission wants funding to be provided to commercial companies to develop their own manned spacecraft and for NASA to cancel its entire manned [...]

NASA’s Constellation program, to return to the moon and go on to Mars, is under attack. There’s a commission reviewing NASA’s manned flight plans. And the commission is being told by contractors who want the business, to dump the Constellation booster and give them the business.
That would be wrong on so many levels. First, those [...]

Former NASA administrator Michael Griffin praised President Obama’s choice for his successor, former astronaut Charles Bolden. Griffin had hoped to retain the job, but the new president refused to keep Griffin, a Bush appointee. (Griffin himself succeeded another Bush appointee, Sean O’Keefe who was, in my opinion, the worst administrator ever.)
Instead, Griffin is now an [...]

It is looking increasingly likely that former astronaut Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden will be Obama’s choice for NASA administrator. Bolden would be the first African-American to hold that post.
The more important question remains: what’s next for the space program?

Many questions
We’re facing a period where America’s next manned space program, Constellation, is “under review.” Will it [...]

Business Week writes about the symbiotic relationship between Russia and the U.S. in space exploration. It re-iterates the biggest upcoming situation—that for five years or more, the U.S. will depend on Russia to get its astronauts into space. After the shuttle retires, only the Russian Soyuz will be available to ferry people to the International [...]

Reportedly, the Obama administration is ordering a review of America’s manned space program to determine how to proceed.

What next…if anything?
Everything is being questioned. Just last month, contracts for preliminary designs for the new lunar lander (Altair) and the new moon rocket (Ares V) were put on hold.
Will the shuttles be used longer and not retired [...]

The economic stimulus package reportedly contains $1 billion for NASA. And $400 million is earmarked (is that a bad word?!) to narrow the gap between the retirement of the shuttle, and the first flight of its successor, Constellation.
Possibly good news…but the U.S. will still have several years when it will be entirely dependent on Russia [...]

The longstanding barriers between the military and America’s civilian space program may fall under an Obama administration, according to a Bloomberg report.
The idea is this:
The Chinese are making great strides in manned spaceflight. They may get to the moon before Americans can return. This alone wouldn’t mean much, but would suggest that the Chinese have [...]