Cancellation or delay into obsolescence the LandSat Data Continuity Mission, the Wide-Field Infrared Explorer and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory.
Delaying of the launch until 2014 (after he’s long gone from office) of a satellite system designed to track global weather systems called the GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement) to monitor planetary weather changes, and incidentally possibly confirm the damage that Global Warming is doing to our environment. The Hydrosphere State mission designed to track changing carbon, water, and energy phases of the changing freeze and thaw sequences in frigid zones on Earth could go too.
A plan to launch two space telescopes to search for evidence of planetary formation in stellar dust clouds call the Terrestrial Planet Finder mission.
Astrobiology sciences will suffer from the loss of a planned unmanned mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa to look for long-suspected liquid water and life. Also canceled are follow-up investigations into a plume of water discovered by astronomers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
Also gutted is a mission to Mars designed to bring back rock samples and return them to Earth, and also the NuSTAR X-ray space telescope array.
Aside from haphazard hardware and mission cuts, Bush has eliminated funds that would’ve financed university students across America pouring over the immense amount of scientific data coming in from past space missions yet to be analyzed, possibly revealing many unfound and overlooked great scientific discoveries, but now that data will sit useless in warehouses and databases for years to come. Some financial resources for projects dozens of years in the planning and execution stages are being dumped (despite commitments to other countries) and could seriously hurt international cooperation with the U.S. To name a couple, there’s NuStar with the Danish National Space Center and Constellation X with the Brera Astronomical Observatory in Italy.
And speaking of Danish and Italian interests…
On the political front
To add insult to injury, President Bush has recently agreed to have India launch two American lunar mapping instruments from their space hub in Bangalore in 2008 rather than having it done from NASA’s facilities in Florida! Not only does this have the effect of helping India get a leg up on China’s space program, but also it potentially damages our relationship with competing Pakistan.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Mark Schannon for your editorial help!
2 - Joey
Lame duck.
India's cheaper
India is the Worlds largest Democracy.
Why we didn't invest in India, rather than China is still a question many economists ponder.
China is an unsuitable partner, still harbors Maoist thought and philosphy, and has ambitions counter to our livlihood.
Glad to see India getting some support. I'm not happy that it's government contract work and not corporate handouts... but then... India probably doesn't have the resident cheap prison labor that China enjoys.
3 - Jet in Columbus
Wow where did you learn speed reading? Thanks fir contributing the first shot across the bow!
This is more rage against the Bush machine for gutting science projects to further himself though.
Jet
4 - Joey
Timing is everything, I guess.
5 - Jet in Columbus
You're right Joey, buy the time he's out of office it'll be too late to do anything about it.
Like not being able to pull out of the International space station because of all the money and lives we've put into it already without admitting we were wrong to go into it without enough foreplanning, kinda like what we did in Iraq?
6 - Jet in Columbus
Joey there's also the danger of the missile technology that we're handing over to India, that could be used to tip those rockets with nuclear warheads!
7 - Joey
Klintoon sold the technology 10 years ago.
and yes Bush will be out of office, which could effectively end the program.
Another predictor could be Sarbanes/Oxley, in the wake of the ENRON scandle, reigning in, not only business, but government as well.
Sadly, Sarbanes/Oxley doesn't extend to businesses or govenment agencies already in exitance, but it does extend to DHS which was stood up after the bill was passed.
It wouldn't take a whole lot of effort to extend Sarbanes/Oxley beyond the constraints orignally imposed. THAT, would be interesting. The backwash tho' is that Agencies would be scrambling to meet standard, and nothing would get done. Which, if you think about happens occasionally, depending in how deep a hole any administration digs itself into.
I don't think the model is reflected in the Bush administrations... probably due to the effects of 9/11 and the carte blanche exercising of fiscal spending.
8 - Jet in Columbus
Somehow I think The Bush administration has given them updated info by now, after all who wants an American project flying on an Indian rocket with only 10 year old technology.
After all look how old the tech is on the Shuttle?
lol
9 - Bliffle
The devil finds work for idle hands. GWB doesn't work at his day job, so he has to go around looking for expensive unrewarding projects to start (and then abandon).
10 - Mr. Real Estate
Everyone seems to be moving to India. India, in fact, is a very hot commercial real estate market at the moment due to the growth of new industry and investment in India.
11 - Jet in Columbus
Bliffle #9, yeay but at what expense to us?
12 - Jet in Columbus
Re #10 So you're saying it's okay to move NASA to India because it's cheaper?
13 - RJ Elliott
Here's an idea:
Support Bush's goal of going back to the moon, complete with permanent bases, and an eventual manned mission to the surface of Mars.
And ALSO support all those other things Jet itemized.
Sure, it'll cost a few extra billion dollars. So what?
If you want to make up for the additional costs with some savings, here are a few examples of how we can do it:
- Eliminate funding aid for Israel...
- Reduce the Social Security COLA by 0.05%...
- Raise the Social Security retirement age by 3 months...
- Eliminate the ceiling on FICA payroll withholding taxes...
- Pass a bill that prevents people in the US illegally from receiving welfare benefits...
- Take donations from the average American in a fund-raising effort that will, once a certain financial threshold is reached, not only fund further space exploration, but also allow for the public torture and execution of Paris Hilton on live TV...
Just bouncing some ideas off the wall...lemme know what you think!
14 - Jet in Columbus
Who's Paris Hilton?
15 - Jet in Columbus
Across your open mind
I trace erratic lines
In motion and in time
I fought a battle won
To the surface of the sun
Through fires on and on
It's only you
It can't be me
For I myself refuse to be
I am someone you'll never know
I am the little neutrino
Solus is not far away
It's face is brighter than a day
So don't turn me away
It's only you
It can't be me
For I myself refuse to be
I am someone you'll never know
I am the little neutrino
And now I'm passing through
The one who is known as you
And yet, you'll never know I do
I really do
as performed by Klaatu
16 - mschannon
Jet--you're welcome.
RJ, the only thing wrong with your list (well, being kind) is that you don't touch the rich, except for Social Security. How about taking the basest levels of politics out of science? Nah, stupid idea.
In Decaf Veritas
17 - Jet in Columbus
I noticed that too, but I decided to err on the side of diplomacy...
Solus mei sententia
Jet
18 - Jet in Columbus
By the way, will someone PLEASE tell me if I've got the latin right???? Several have suggested otherwise.
19 - Jet in Columbus
RJ:Everyone should be taxed 10 percent with no deductions... corporations too. Some fantasy huh?
20 - Glen Boyd
I'm actually all for space exploration. If for no other reason than the fact I just want to know what that face thing on Mars actually is.
With guys like Bush though, I just don't trust it. I don't want to see them militarizing space. The next thing you know with these guys, we'll be detaining "enemy combatants" up on the moon the way these guys work. LOL...
Good article though Jet.
-Glen
21 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Jet, your pieces are getting sharper and sharper all the time - you may have a future as a science writer; think on it... Of course if your country guts science, you'll be stuck with religion. ;-))
RJ, hit up the rich too. While you're at it, eliminate aid to Egypt, as well as Israel. I agree with eliminating aid to Israel, BTW.
According to you, Jet, the creationists are supposed to be the ones pleased with this? This is supposed to get all those conservative Christians to vote Republican in November? I think conservative Christians are smarter than that - but I've been wrong before.
If you really want shots across the bow - with flame attached - post this to Desicritics. You should have a ball explaining to Indians what is wrong with outsourcing projects to India...
Aaman?
22 - Jet in Columbus
Glen 20, Thanks, while researching this I noticed that military space applications weren't being cut, but I didn't want to mention it for fear of hurting Halliburton's feelings...
Solus mei sententia
Jet
23 - Jet in Columbus
Ruvy #21, As you can see, there's a real possibility that he's gutting all the sciences not directly related to Military applications, either/or at the behest of the creationists.
I honestly don't think he gives a tinker's damn about the moon, only getting his name on a plaque up there, or maybe having his profile replace Kennedy's on the fifty cent piece.
It irks me that he's even willing to damage our national pride by outsourcing NASA missions to India, to the point of helping them develop technology that would hand them an ICBM.
Bush has stated repeatedly that he's a religious fatalist and believes that God is coming soon to reclaim us. I really believe that explains a lot of his decisions that look like he doesn't care about the long-range complications or rammifications of his actions.
Solus mei sententia
Jet
24 - chantal stone
Great Article Jet....
I'm still on this though: "His pet moon project has already cost us taxpayers dearly, and it is estimated to grow to $3.98 billion by 2007. (Funds in my opinion that could definitely be better used armoring soldiers' vehicles in Iraq or saving our vanishing middle class from extinction.)"
I'm still trying to figure out where the logic is in screwing up the moon and galaxy, when we haven't even attempted to fix the mess that's made here on our own planet.
I'm all for research, such as studying dark energy, and charting stars and galaxies that are similar to ours, etc. But whats the point of trying to get back to the moon? Been there, done that. If I'm not mistaken, I always thought a president's priority was to the PEOPLE, not the history books.
GWB is certainly no Jed Bartlett.
25 - Jet in Columbus
I don't understand it any more than you do, and I'm the one that wrote this. It's like I said in #23 "
Bush has stated repeatedly that he's a religious fatalist and believes that God is coming soon to reclaim us. I really believe that explains a lot of his decisions that look like he doesn't care about the long-range complications or rammifications of his actions."
The only trouble with that logic, looking back on it is that if god's coming to take us all, what's he care about the Moon and Mars for, unless it insurance in case he's wrong.
You'd think he'd be like other fundamentalists who think their ticket to heaven is how many souls they can show to St. Peter that they've saved to show what a good person they were.
Solus mei sententia
Jet