Alt.VSE Update
Scientists Hope to Adjust the President’s Vision for Space, Science (subscription)
“When U.S. President George W. Bush laid out his plan for a revamped civilian space program in January 2004, he said it would provide “a great and unifying mission for NASA.” That expansive vision included a launcher to replace the shuttle, a lunar base, and a slew of robotic missions to the moon and Mars that would put smiles on the faces of even the most skeptical planetary scientists. But 4 years later, that vision has instead triggered a civil war among competing interests within the space community. Some space researchers want to delay the launcher and a lunar base to protect the stalled science budget, whereas industry lobbyists are pressing hard to speed up those schedules.”