That Loud Whining Sound You Hear From Clear Lake

NASA's budget will remain flat for 2011 and expect to hear the whining start from those making the 6 figure incomes. In fact hear it is:

“I am extremely concerned that the president has failed to match rhetoric with reality,” said Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, whose congressional district includes Houston's Johnson Space Center.

Olson is the rookie Congressman workers at JSC put in charge of NASA back in Nov of 2008. His predecessor, Nick Lampson, had been working hard to establish long term funding for NASA and with great success. Olson hasn't been so successful. Lampson, early on, realized the goals established by President Bush back in 2005 was lacking the necessary funding. The Augustine Commission confirmed it:

In October the Augustine Commission finalized a report that concluded, “The human spaceflight program that the United States is currently pursuing is on an unsustainable trajectory.”

And/Or DUH!  Bush wanted to go to the Moon, Mars, service the Space Station, retire the Shuttle, and build a new vehicle, all without one extra penny of money. It was an unattainable goal in 2005 and it is an unattainable goal in 2010.

NASA supporters have had their heads in the clouds(and elsewhere) when it comes to working within the budget, the huge deficit, and our debt, but that will not stop them from whining. NASA does not need more money. They need to focus on retiring the Shuttle, then building a new vehicle to service the Station, then on to the Moon. In that order.

And please don't start whining about funding a $700 Billion trip to Mars. That was never going to happen.