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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NASA Can't Afford to Visit Moon by 2020

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(Newser) – With all the hoopla of the Apollo anniversary safely behind us, a White House panel is ready to deliver a sobering assessment of the nation's current moon plans: They're too expensive. The panel, set up by President Obama to review NASA's human space flight program, says the agency's budget is far too skimpy to afford a return trip by the stated goal of 2020, reports Space.com.

Instead, NASA should consider other explorations, such as a rendezvous—not a landing—on sites such as a tiny moon of Mars known as Phobos, notes the Washington Post. The 10-member panel will brief Obama officials tomorrow, then deliver a full report with recommendations by the end of the month.

A full moon.
A full moon.   (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
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This budget is just simply not friendly to exploration. It is very difficult to find an exploration scenario that actually fits within this very restrictive budget guidance that we've been given. - Sally Ride, panel member
and former astronaut

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13 comments
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Newser001
Aug 13, 09 7:17 PM CDT
One would think not... Not right now. Reply
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-2
SPH
Aug 13, 09 7:44 PM CDT
If we could stop the seemingly endless war mongering and the truly ridiculous "defense" budget, projects such as this could be executed...But war is soooooo profitable for some... Reply
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+8
Timinator2K
Aug 13, 09 7:46 PM CDT
Ditch Big Brother Care, we could go to Mars with Trillions left over. Reply
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-5
IN RESPONSE:
bewilderbeast
Oct 9, 09 6:35 AM CDT
Yeah, and that way we wouldn't have to stop invading small little countries and WISELY INVESTING trillions embarrassing ourselves and making enemies for our grankids to deal with.
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0
shonangreg
Aug 13, 09 8:45 PM CDT
We should continue multiple 200 million dollar robotic missions -- like Spirit and Endeavor on Mars. They are dirt cheap when compared with anything involving human missions, and we get great science from them -- and nobody dies in the process. Human missions are still a future endeavor. Reply
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+2

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