NASA Budget Guts Aeronautic Research To Support Space
NASA is the "National Aeronautics and Space Administration," and
ex-director Sean O'Keefe was fond of saying that he wasn't going to
forget the first "A". But the new NASA budget strips resources from
aeronautics programs in order to fund the two bottomless appetites
of the space program: the shuttle's return to flight, and the
International Space Station.
When the next Progress supply ship launches from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan March 2nd, it'll carry an extra big load
of food, water, air and gear. The idea is to not only keep the
station stocked for its resident crew, but to make ready for a
possible emergency when the US space shuttles begin to fly again
later this year.
More than two years of careful investigation and painstaking
planning may come down to the last minute in NASA's attempt to
return its remaining shuttle fleet to service in May. Even though
Discovery's launch date has been set, not everything NASA pledged
to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board has come to fruition.
In this case, the new sensors designed to detect fatal hull
breaches may not actually work until the very last minute before
launch.
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