In a speech given at the Kennedy Space Center last month, President Obama reaffirmed his administration’s decision to cancel Constellation, NASA’s program to create new vehicles for human flights to the moon and Mars. If implemented, this decision will guarantee a decade of non-achievement by NASA’s human spaceflight program, at a cost of more than $100 billion.

Although we are known for holding different opinions on the order and importance of specific objectives in space, we are united in our concern over this move to turn away from the Vision for Space Exploration (hereafter referred to as Vision). Vision gave NASA’s human spaceflight program a clear direction: to reach the moon and Mars. Congressional authorization bills in 2005 (under Republican leadership) and 2008 (under Democratic leadership) endorsed this goal.

The agency created the Constellation program to build the Ares 1 and Ares 5 launch vehicles, the Orion spacecraft and other hardware needed to go to the moon and Mars. A timeline was set, and objectives were articulated to achieve Vision’s first major milestone - a sustainable return to the moon by the end of the present decade to gain knowledge, reacquire operational experience and use local resources to create capabilities for our reach to Mars and beyond.

Vision had its roots in the 2003 report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, which asserted that the goals associated with human spaceflight must be worthy of its costs and risks. In canceling Constellation and Vision, the administration is proposing to return NASA to its pre-Columbia template of operating on a “flexible path” involving no commitment to any specific timeline, achievement or objective. This new direction, coming just as the space-shuttle program is set to end, threatens America’s human spaceflight effort not merely with stagnation but also with cancellation.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/31/nasas-mission-to-nowhere/

I understand the excitement of finding what is out there, but what exactly is our goal in outer space, are we searching for outside resources...we arent really all going to move to another planet one day....

It's lame anyways, people who have made a lifetime of being astronauts and rocket scientists---to just put their lives on hold.

I thought Richard Branson was designing some sort of ship for space touring....that seems really interesting.

Thats cool, I wonder how much it will cost, not that i would ever go, NO THANKS, but you have to pass some sort of physical i am sure with the g forces and what not. he went once before on a real flight before.

I know everyone will probably disagree with me but I really like the space shuttles. I believe they could have been updated with more sophisticated technology to allow us to fly even further out in space. Maybe even to Mars. One small step for man....one giant leap for mankind. Imagine that being said on Mars if possible!

These pioneer astronauts even mentioned that we should have been on Mars by now.

If I am off subject then I apologize to the OP.

The shuttle is... designed to carry large heavy loads to low orbit. It is really not suitable for flight into the solar system but that doesn't mean it is impossible. It certainly won't fly from the four museums. The true value of the shuttle would be to "shuttle" large pieces of a spacecraft into orbit that was suitable to travel farther in space.
There have been designs on the boards, for example, of ships with nuclear engines that cannot lift themselves from Earth's gravity but could fly quite well in the zero gravity of space for very long journeys.

I know everyone will probably disagree with me but I really like the space shuttles. I believe they could have been updated with more sophisticated technology to allow us to fly even further out in space. Maybe even to Mars. One small step for man....one giant leap for mankind. Imagine that being said on Mars if possible!

These pioneer astronauts even mentioned that we should have been on Mars by now. Our space program has gone way to slow because of the constant approvals, regulations, and fundings in getting them going. It is because we as a people can't agree on basic fundamentals of life either making our governments at loss with their budget. It is a sad story for I really believe the US could have still led in alot more then just landing on the moon and taking a few pictures of the planets in our universe.

I wish we could have voted as a people to keep the space shuttle and just updated it with more technology. I think that the people would have voted for it to stay with us and not store the thing in a museum for memories.

If I am off subject then I apologize to the OP. I am very new with space programs and how they work.

Since I was a child I have been facinated with everything beyond our planet, but lately I have been wondering why we need to go out to space and explore this great expance. It is one thing to be able to do good for the inhabitants of this planet, but it sure is another thing to do something out of pure curiosity and expect a vast majority to support this satisfying of the curiosity. Is this the underlining reason (one's curiosity) for why scientist want to explore the near and far reaches of space? If so, should citizens be required to pay taxes to support their itching curiosity?

What do we expect to do on Mars? To supply oxygen alone, how much will that cost?

You're forgetting the most important reason of all...
Because it's there.

Since I was a child I have been facinated with everything beyond our planet, but lately I have been wondering why we need to go out to space and explore this great expance. It is one thing to be able to do good for the inhabitants of this planet, but it sure is another thing to do something out of pure curiosity and expect a vast majority to support this satisfying of the curiosity. Is this the underlining reason (one's curiosity) for why scientist want to explore the near and far reaches of space? If so, should citizens be required to pay taxes to support their itching curiosity?

What do we expect to do on Mars? To supply oxygen alone, how much will that cost?

The manned space program is all about politics now and Obama plans to kill it for the forseeable future. Once the people and infrastructure are gone, it will be too costly to rebuild.