NASA satellites feel budget crunch
Budget cuts and poor management may be jeopardizing the future of our eyes in orbit -- America's fleet of environmental satellites, vital tools for forecasting hurricanes, protecting water supplies and predicting global warming...
NASA officials say that tight budgets tie their hands, forcing them to cut all but the most vital programs. The agency's proposed 2007 budget request contains $2.2 billion for satellites that observe the Earth and sun, compared to $6.2 billion for operating the space shuttle and International Space Station and $4 billion for developing future missions to the moon and Mars...
Pentagon eyeing weapons in space - Budget seeks millions to test new technologies
The descriptions included in the budget request mark only what is publicly known about the military's space warfare plans. Specialists believe the classified portion of the $439 billion budget, blacked out for national security reasons, almost certainly includes other space-related programs.
Rick Lehner, an agency spokesman, said there are no plans to base weapons in space, noting that out of $48 billion planned for missile defense over the next five years...
Philip Coyle, who served as the Pentagon's top weapons tester from 1994 to 2001, said in an interview that he sees ''new emphasis on space weapons" even though ''there is no threat in space to justify a new arms race in space."
So, we're spending at least tens of billions of dollars (possibly hundreds of billions) on a program (missile defense) that is so unsuccessful that it was exempted from normal testing requirements because its repeated failures were embarassing and programs to meet "threats" that don't exist and if they're pursued have a good chance of starting an arms race in space, but because of "tight budgets," satellites costing several billion to track hurricanes, monitor global warming, predict droughts and floods, and provide everyday weather forecasting aren't considered "vital programs."
It's a sad time to be a space geek.