New government reports cast doubt on future of NASA's Mars spacecraft

I for one am tired of government programs that are always over budget and in some cases end up getting canceled before the gizmo that was promised on a certain date for a certain amount of money can be made. If I ran my business like they run theirs I would not have a business and I doubt any other civilian would either.

For the past six years, NASA has been intensely focused on sending people to Mars — but the rocket and spacecraft that the agency is building for the job face delays and budget problems. That’s according to two new independent reviews done by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a federal agency that conducts audits on behalf of Congress. Released last week, the reports paint a grim picture for NASA’s Orion crew capsule and the Space Launch System (SLS) — the huge new expendable rocket that would launch the crew capsule to space. The GAO has little confidence that both the Orion and the SLS will meet their scheduled milestones, and the capsule could exceed its intended budget, the GAO hints.

www.theverge.com...

a reply to: 727Sky

This is why having things like spaceX is great. Lets be honest, If NASA had the funding it wanted we would have been to Mars already a long time ago. Instead, the government sticks them down to low priority for funding. Too busy spending money on war.

a reply to: 727Sky

For the past six years, NASA has been intensely focused on sending people to Mars — but the rocket and spacecraft that the agency is building for the job face delays and budget problems.

Because they realize it will cost a lot more than they first thought?

You could try and convince me they didn't know that ahead of time...

I can start a project to dig to the center of the earth, get initial funding, blow it (scrape a little for myself), and then say well, its gonna be more difficult than I thought.

(Throws up hands) Oh welll.

a reply to: Tjoran

I agree with you, to much time focusing on wars and not enough on expanding the human race, exploring outer space. If alien's really do exist why can't us humans be alien's once and a while.(Nice alien's though that just want to say hello)

a reply to: 727Sky

This is good. It means the government is waking up to fix the earth. Why colonicolonizanother planet when we haven't fix ours yet?

It's a waste of time, money and man power just to send a group of people to destroy another planet (granted the morals they were taught.)

We haven't even provided a simple solution to this and we still want to destroy another planet? Come on people wake up!

You all make things simple, complicated.

The first thing I thought when I read the title:
Obama is cutting their budget and reviewing his mission to NASA to be diplomats to the Middle East , again

NASA is a complete joke these days.

China is going to get to Mars before the US does. Probably a joint mission with the Russian Space Agency.

a reply to: 727Sky


Best just to view it as the next version of the space shuttle, a total, false façade, a visible attempt to sate our expectations of exploring space in an acceptable, public and conventional way when the real efforts are done with the mysterious triangles far ahead of official timetables and anybody else's efforts.

Perhaps the triangles would have been revealed by now if we had not lost two shuttle crews due to inept procedures and poor designs. So they must drag out the façade until they can say, "What difference does it make now?"

I'm sorry but many of you have a pie in the sky attitude when it comes to space.
Ask yourself how long it would take for any colony to become self sustaining.
In realistic terms we are talking 100 years.
It's nothing like landing in the Americas.
At least they could breathe/drink/eat at will.

It is NOT our governments job to colonize the moon or beyond.
The money required is truly astronomical.
There is no benefit to the population to go to another moon/planet.
Our tax dollars are to defend and further our population.

If you want to live on the moon then fund it yourself.