The situation illustrates the folly of Republicans' approach to the federal budget, said Appropriations Committee ranking member Norm Dicks (D-Wash.).

"I continue to take issue with the majority's decision to delay planned projects and acquisitions," Dicks said. "Although doing so may save some money in [fiscal] 2012, invariably it makes completing the project or acquisition more expensive and often results in unfortunate consequences."

Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500

3 Comments

1. 1. geojellyroll 05:21 PM 7/8/11

   The space Shuttle us a big sponge. At 1.4 BILLION a mission it sucked the life blood out of space related science projects.

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2. 2. Le Spaz d'Argent 10:53 PM 7/8/11

   As of this morning 07/08/2011 the shuttle is a dead sponge.
   
   I have to agree, though, that the focus on manned space flight to asteroids, the Moon and Mars is a boondoggle. That money should be spent on things like these Earth observing satellites and robotic exploration.
   
   Maybe someday, if we (world) ever get rich again, we can try our hand at terraforming Mars.

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3. 3. Wayne Williamson 07:54 PM 7/13/11

   Instead of always going for the new better more feature design...It might be a good idea to replace years old tech with current tech...lets see...14 years plus another 4 for development is 18 years of progress...this should reduce the cost and size by something like 18/1.8 = 10(moore's law). So you can produce it for 1/10th the original cost with probably greater resolution/lifetime/smaller...just rambling...

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