Dump the shuttle in 2011, extend the ISS to 2020 and nix the Moon shot.

That's what the Augustine Committee told NASA and the President this weekend. The Constellation program, already over budget by $50B is in serious trouble. Although the project is moving forward, unless the government can come up with more money, it is likely that the plan to return to the Moon will be dropped, and with the economy in the state it is in and critics of Constellation piling up, any extra money the government finds in the couch cushions will most likely be used for something else. However, it depends on what Obama thinks of the plan. With the obscene amount of money he is flinging around in Congress, who's going to notice a few more billions sent NASA's way?

The unmanned mission to explore the solar system was the only real winner as far as the committee was concerned. They seemed to think it was an important part of the space program. I happen to think it is so far THE most important part of the space program, but they don't ask my opinion.

With the prospect of ending Constellation and begging rides off the Russians until someone from the private sector offers NASA astronaughts a lift to the ISS, Obama will certainly have some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks. Let's hope he's as smart as the Democrats seem to think he is.