Posted by
Far_view on Tuesday, February 05, 2008 9:15:22 AM
There are a few good stories on the proposed 2009 NASA budget. An overall one
here and one more focused on planetary science
here. It looks a little grim for Mars exploration :(
It
is fairly good for Earth science and lunar science. In a letter to the
NASA community, associate administrator for science, Alan Stern,
outlined 7 new missions in the proposed budget:
- The
Earth Science Division's SMAP soil moisture mission for launch in 2012
and IceSat II decadal survey mission for launch in 2015. Three
additional Earth science decadal survey missions will be enabled by
this budget request as well.
- And
two new lunar robotic missions - a small science orbiter to launch by
2011 and a pair of mini-landers for launch by 2014; these lunar
missions are to be developed in SMD's Planetary Science Division.
- The Heliophysics Division's new, lower cost Solar Probe mission for launch in 2015.
- The
Planetary Science Division's long awaited Outer Planets Flagship for
launch in 2016 or 2017, depending on the mission target and trajectory.
- The Astrophysics Division's highly anticipated JDEM dark energy mission for launch by 2015.
Of course this is all subject to how it is deconstructed by the Democrat-controlled congress. We'll see!