NASA delaying science missions because of shuttle costs

ladies and gents,
NASA is delaying some missions indefinitely such as the terrestrial planet finder as the cost of keeping the shuttle flying spirals.
stephen.

www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=...Id=online-news_rss20

ladies and gents,
NASA is delaying some missions indefinitely such as the terrestrial planet finder as the cost of keeping the shuttle flying spirals.
stephen.

www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=...Id=online-news_rss20

Hang on a sec, isn't that EXACTLY what the director said he wouldn't do in the recent interview with him that was linked in one of Stephen's recent posts?

I was really impressed by what he had to say in his interview but if the rest of what he said is as inacurate/changeable/no commital/uncertain as what he said about NOT diverting money from science programs to feed the shuttle then I'm an aweful lot less impressed.

That's the thing - he's not cutting funds, rather they're not keeping up with inflation. Griffin is trying to do the best he can - with Shuttle, he has commitments to uphold with the international programs re. ISS, so a minimum amount of shuttle flights are needed to fufil those obligations. (Nothing else can lift those modules to orbit). What makes it even tougher is that NASA is not getting even the modest increases previously promised by the Bush Administration, coupled with Congress pushing for an early CEV first launch date - it's an impossible job keeping everyone happy given the lack of proper resources.

Let's hope that safety isn't compromised, especially with all the recent anniversaries that demonstrate how important it is.

That's the worry - artificial deadlines (the 2010 deadline for retiring the Shuttle) seem to be the primary driver again. Has NASA already forgotten the recommendations of the CAIB?