Scientists and space policy experts say they will debate whether President George Bush's call for a return to the moon and voyage to Mars is feasible.
Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent the last four years to design, build and test spacecraft in the program dubbed Constellation, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
The program, however, has not caught the public's imagination as did, say, the Apollo program, and with a new president to be elected late this year, some question whether the program needs to be revamped, the Post reported. A Feb. 12-13 conference at Stanford University is to debate the issue, said Louis Friedman, head of the Planetary Society and an early advocate of much of the Bush space plan.
"Some of us have real doubts about whether the money will be available for the Bush plan," Friedman told the Post.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
Related stories:
Analysis: Is the right stuff now lost in space?
(AP) -- The signs of a midlife crisis are there: A 50th birthday approaching; a longing for the glory days of youth; a hankering to dump the aging partner of 27 years; and a costly flirtation with a new young thing. This isn't some balding businessman in a sports car. It's NASA.
Researchers find human virus in chimpanzees
After studying chimpanzees in the wilds of Tanzania's Mahale Mountains National Park for the past year as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, Virginia Tech researcher Dr. Taranjit Kaur and her team have produced powerful scientific evidence that chimpanzees are becoming sick from viral infectious diseases they have likely contracted from humans.
Engineers perfecting hydrogen-generating technology
Researchers at Purdue University have further developed a technology that could represent a pollution-free energy source for a range of potential applications, from golf carts to submarines and cars to emergency portable generators.
Shuttle Crew at the Pad
The STS-118 crew is at Launch Pad 39A. A short elevator ride to the 195-foot level brought the astronauts to the White Room where one by one each crewmember is assisted by NASA's closeout crew to prepare to board the shuttle.
Space station mission has changed
It's been 22 years since U.S. President Ronald Reagan proposed building the International Space Station, but its mission has since radically changed.
Tiny, self-powered sensor for future hydrogen economy
Hydrogen has been called the fuel of the future. But the gas is invisible, odorless and explosive at high concentrations, posing a safety problem for hydrogen-powered cars, filling stations and other aspects of the so-called hydrogen economy.
Space agency's 2020 vision shortsighted, say Berkeley astronomers
"Returning to the moon is an important step for our space program," declared President Bush in January 2005, announcing his intention to "give NASA a new focus and vision for exploration" by putting Americans back on the moon by 2020, followed by the first manned mission to Mars. Months later, NASA's incoming administrator, Michael Griffin, vowed that despite the staggering cost of this bold vision conservatively estimated at over $100 billion not "one thin dime" would come out of his agency's budget for unmanned space science.
NASA Outlines FY 2006 Operating Plan
NASA has sent to Congress its operating plan for the remainder of fiscal year 2006, which runs until Sept. 30. Such plans, a formality required as part of the budget process, allow legislators to evaluate the proposed funding requests by federal agencies by comparing them to current spending and activities.