The news is out, and the Obama administration has officially requested that NASA cancel the Constellation moon program, and replace it with partnerships with private industry and international partners.
Well, here's my read: NASA is dead. Our leadership in space is dead. We will no longer do anything that may be classified as risky, cannot be fostered off on an international partner, or won't turn a profit.
You think NASA has been risk-averse the last 20 years? Wait until private industry is responsible for the vehicles. You won't see any human doing ANYTHING that might cause a lawsuit. Visits to Hubble or anything similar will never happen again.
My bet is we'll be watching the Chinese take over real exploration, while we hide under our blankets on Earth. Hell, the Russians will be kicking our loser butts in 10 years. Maybe we'll still be present in low earth orbit. Maybe. The Russians will probably pay us off the ISS with their oil money and kick us out of there too.
Oh, I should also probably mention: a TON of smart engineers and high-tech workers are about to lose their jobs. I wonder if they'll let complex 39, the LCC and the VAB rot away like so much of the Cape?
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