No Bucks, No Buzz Lightyear

Welcome To The Recession, NASA, Free Space, Discovery Channel
“A tedious final public meeting of the board reviewing the country’s human space program concluded with a sobering assessment of the future, at least for those wishing to see American flags on other bodies in the solar system. To put it bluntly: It ain’t gonna happen in our lifetimes without a big boost in NASA’s budget. That’s not to say there’s not a silver lining, a couple actually. First off, we’re likely to make our international partners very happy because the only program that looks robust and viable for the foreseeable future is the International Space Station. For the most part, the Human Space Flight Review panel seems to favor extending its planned lifetime to at least 2020.”
Exploration plan doesn’t fit in current budget, panel says, Spaceflight Now
“A presidential panel wrapping up a review of options for future U.S. manned space flight operations delivered a grim assessment today, showing NASA’s current plan to retire the shuttle, finish the space station and return to the moon by the early 2020s is not even remotely feasible without a significant restoration of previously cut funding. In the absence of a major spending increase, “our view is that it will be difficult with the current budget to do anything that’s terribly inspiring in the human spaceflight area,” said Norman Augustine, chairman of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee.”
NASA Budget Threatens Manned Missions, Group Says, Wall Street Journal
“Current budget constraints confronting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration make it virtually impossible to sustain manned missions to the Moon, Mars or further into space in coming decades, a blue-ribbon study group is expected to tell the White House. The findings mean the Obama administration, which created the commission, faces a stark test of its commitment to pursue expensive human space exploration efforts despite ballooning federal deficits.”
Presidential panel says NASA’s manned-space future is bleak, Orlando Sentinel
“We haven’t found a scenario that includes exploration that’s viable,” said former astronaut Sally Ride, one of 10 committee members who have until Aug. 31 to present President Barack Obama with future options for NASA. Panel chairman Norm Augustine, the retired CEO of Lockheed Martin, said NASA is the victim of both budget cuts and technical problems with its Constellation program of new rockets and capsules that are supposed to return humans to the moon. “The money available has declined considerably since the program began,” he said. “On the other hand, the Constellation program has proven to be more difficult than it was thought to be.”