REVOLUTIONARY HUBBLE TELESCOPE FIRST CASUALTY OF MARS BUDGET SHIFT
17 January 2004

NASA has announced it will no longer fund maintenance for the Hubble telescope. While the cost of maintaining and refurbishing the telescope is high, its scientific yield is virtually without parallel. Many of the most important discoveries in astronomy in recent years have been achieved through use of the Hubble. It is now thought that the telescope has only a 50% chance of surviving till 2007.

But the Hubble cannot be entirely abandoned. In fact, due to the size and density of certain parts of the structure, the Hubble will not break up entirely upon re-entry. This means it will be necessary to mount one more mission to the telescope to ensure that it re-enters and lands far from any populated areas. The mission would be robotic, but would also be costly, and according to CBS News, "the technology does not exist yet". [s]

BUSH ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR SPACE EXPLORATION, COLONIZATION
14 January 2004

President Bush today announced that his administration will begin planning for a new revival of space exploration. The plans as outlined include enhancement of the International Space Station project, the creation of a new space-travel vehicle (the Crew Exploration Vehicle), designed to carry human beings into space, to the Moon, and eventually to Mars. The plan, while ambitious, employs a long time-frame, not inaugurating the new vehicle until 2014 and not seeking a Moon-landing until 2020.

The plan includes an ambitious strategy to build the first human colony on the Moon. [Full Story]