It is known,informally,as the asteroid-lasso plan:Nasa wants to launch an unmanned spacecraft in 2018 that would capture a small asteroid,haul it closer to Earth,then send astronauts up to examine it,in 2021 or beyond.But the space agency has encountered a stubborn technical problem:Congressional Republicans.
Normally,there is bipartisan support(or disapproval) in congress for Nyasa's bolder plan.This month,however,the science committee in the republican controlled house voted to bar NASA from pursuing that faraway rock.In a straight party vote-22 Republicans for,17 Democrats against-the committee laid out a road map for NASA for the next three years that brushed aside the asteroid capture plan, the centerpiece of the Obama administration's agenda for space exploration.The plan,instead,included new marching orders,telling NASA
to send astronauts back to the Moon,set up a base there and then aim for Mars(and to do so with less money than requested).
"A costly and complex distraction"is how one republican critic,Representative Steven Palazzo of Mississippi,described the asteroid mission.Other legislators complained that the project seemed far-fetched and poorly articulated,and that it would not advance America's bragging rights in space the way a return to the moon could.The bill awaits a vote by the full house. NASA is trying to figure out how to proceed.
Normally,there is bipartisan support(or disapproval) in congress for Nyasa's bolder plan.This month,however,the science committee in the republican controlled house voted to bar NASA from pursuing that faraway rock.In a straight party vote-22 Republicans for,17 Democrats against-the committee laid out a road map for NASA for the next three years that brushed aside the asteroid capture plan, the centerpiece of the Obama administration's agenda for space exploration.The plan,instead,included new marching orders,telling NASA
to send astronauts back to the Moon,set up a base there and then aim for Mars(and to do so with less money than requested)."A costly and complex distraction"is how one republican critic,Representative Steven Palazzo of Mississippi,described the asteroid mission.Other legislators complained that the project seemed far-fetched and poorly articulated,and that it would not advance America's bragging rights in space the way a return to the moon could.The bill awaits a vote by the full house. NASA is trying to figure out how to proceed.
No comments:
Post a Comment