Ares Troubles Widen Gap, Raise Costs, Threaten Jobs

NASA’s estimates for new rocket soar again, Orlando Sentinel
“The cost of getting NASA’s next-generation rocket to the international space station has ballooned from an initial $28 billion to about $44 billion today — and that number is likely to keep rising, according to NASA studies and government officials. The soaring costs are driven by a host of technical troubles and made worse by the way NASA budgeted the Constellation program, which is supposed to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. The cost overruns and other problems are likely to delay the rocket’s launch from March 2015 to late 2016, widening the gap between the planned retirement of the space shuttle in 2010 and the first Constellation flight, while extending thousands of job losses in Brevard County.”