If U.S. astronauts land on the moon again before 2020, it won't be aboard a NASA spacecraft.如果美国宇航员在2020前重新登临月球，我们可以肯定的一点是他们所使用的交通工具绝对不是太空总署的宇宙飞船。
The space agency's 2011 budget, released today, reveals plans to scrap the Constellation program, including the rockets and spacecraft that NASA has been developing over the past four years to replace its aging space shuttle fleet.今天太空总署发布了它2011年的财政预算，其中“星座计划”惨遭否决。实际上在过去四年时间里太空总署不断用新的火箭和宇宙飞船来代替它那些上了年纪的航天飞机们就是为实现这个计划做的不懈努力。
星座计划的胎死腹中意味着太空总署在2020年秋季最后一次航天飞机发射后将不会再提出任何有关载人航天飞行的计划。代替之道是美国可能会求助其他有能力的国家，如俄罗斯的宇宙飞船，将美国宇航员送至国际空间站。
其实这个结果早在去年九月就有些隐约迹象表明了。一个独立调查委员会——奥古斯丁协会声称星座计划不过是将大笔金钱浪费在送几个有限的宇航员在2020年之前登上月球而已。
白宫财政管理办公室的网页上说，管理美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马否决星座计划的理由是“超预算，落后于预定计划时间表，并缺乏在决定性核心新技术方面实验所需要投入的大量资金。”
没有登月计划，但太空总署拿到了更多钱
当上任美国总统乔治·布什于2005年宣布星座计划上马时，这个宏大的计划包括了设计全新的发射装置和载人航天舱，一个新的月球车，并在月球两极中的一极修建永久性建筑。
于是太空总署尝试性地发射了战神I-X火箭，制造了月球车雏形的1：1模型，然后撞击月球表面以深入探测月球是否存在水以支撑一个月球站点。
但由于星座计划需要的金钱简直像个无底黑洞，以至于太空总署提出的预算金额远远高于它在2010年要的钱。
官方宣称，在2011年，太空总署将比未来五年多得到60亿美元的拨款，预计到2015年，这六年太空总署得到的拨款总数可达到1000亿美元。
“这些拨款将为我们指出留名青史的路径，比方说，它将刺激革新，为美国人提供激动人心的新工作并鼓励人们胸怀世界。”今天太空总署署长Charlie Bolden 在一个发布会上如是说。
早夭的星座计划节省下来的钱可以用于研制机器人空间计划，为商业公司制造载人航天飞船提供帮助，还可以鼓励技术创新并最终达到将宇航员从低地轨道送至外层空间的目的。
“想想去火星的旅程由现在的一年缩短为几周，人们飞出太阳系内层空间，一步一步地走向月球，小行星，火星探险，这些美好的想象的实现需要全球通力合作，”Bolden说，“这就是总统计划太空总署做的事。”
太空总署的“更多可持续发展项目”不包括月球计划
为了回应上周泄露的财政预算改变的新闻报道，现任佛罗里达州参议员，前宇航员Bill Nelson声称奥巴马的举措是“迟缓更换佛罗里达那些老掉牙的火箭，将太空利益拱手相让给中国和俄罗斯，并过分依赖于那些靠不住的商业公司。”
佛罗里达众议院议员 Suzanne Kosmas同样责难白宫的决定，他在声明里说：“总统的决定缺乏向太空进军的无畏勇气，他曾经将太空探险描述为21世纪最激动人心的革命，但现在他准备向别人乞讨这场革命的领导权了。”
同时，总统的支持者们声称新预算更立足现实并为发展太空探险提供了更好的机会。
“我相信它比过去十年所做的更符合维护生态平衡，”空间探险倡导团体之一，安全世界基金会常务董事Ray Williamson这样告诉国家地理杂志新闻的记者。
Constellation's demise would mean that NASA will have no plans for manned space flight beyond the final shuttle launch in fall 2010. Instead the U.S. will have to rely on other governments, such as existing Russian craft, to ferry people to the International Space Station.
The news has actually been expected since last September, when an independent panel known as the Augustine Committee determined that Constellation would require large budget increases to land even a handful of astronauts back on the moon before 2020.
U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to scrap the program is based on Constellation being "over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation due to a failure to invest in critical new technologies," according to a statement posted on the White House Office of Management and Budget Web site.
No Moon Mission, But More Money for NASA
When former U.S. President George W. Bush announced the Constellation program in 2005, the plan included designs for a new launch vehicle and crew capsule, a new moon rover, and eventual construction of a moon base at one of the lunar poles. (See pictures of the planned Constellation spacecraft.)
Since then NASA has flight tested the Ares I-X rocket, built a full-size moon buggy prototype, and crashed a probe into the moon in search of water to sustain a lunar outpost.
But even with the loss of resources already poured into Constellation, NASA's new proposed budget would see the space agency get more funding than it did in 2010.
As of 2011, NASA would receive an additional six billion dollars over the next five years, officials announced, for a grand total of a hundred billion dollars by 2015.
"This budget gives us a road map to even more historic achievements, as it spurs innovation, employs Americans in exciting new jobs, and engages people around the world," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said at a press conference today.
The money saved by halting Constellation would instead be used to fund robotic space missions, to help commercial companies develop manned spacecraft, and to develop new engine technologies that could eventually take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit and into deep space.
"Imagine trips to Mars that take weeks instead of nearly a year, people fanning out across the inner solar system, exploring the moon, asteroids, and Mars nearly simultaneously in a steady stream of firsts, and imagine all of this being done collaboratively with nations around the world," Bolden said. "That's what the President's plan for NASA will enable."
NASA "More Sustainable" Without Moon Missions
Responding to initial reports of the budget changes leaked last week, Florida Senator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut, wrote in a statement that the Obama Administration is "replacing lost shuttle jobs in Florida too slowly, risking U.S. leadership in space to China and Russia, and relying too heavily on unproven commercial companies."
Florida Representative Suzanne Kosmas also condemned the White House's decision, saying in a statement that "the President's proposal lacks a bold vision for space exploration and begs for the type of leadership that he has described as critical for inspiring innovation for the 21st century."
Meanwhile, supporters argue that the new budget is more realistic and creates better opportunities for advancing space exploration.
"I think it puts us on a much more sustainable path than we've been on for the past ten years," Ray Williamson, executive director of the space advocacy group Secure World Foundation, told National Geographic News.
前任宇航员Buzz Aldrin也发表声明称赞太空总署的发展新方向。
“作为曾经登上阿波罗号的宇航员，我明白推进尖端科技与探索太空同样重要。” Aldrin说。
“事实是我们已经登上过月球——四十年前。我们的短期目标应该是减少太空探险的花费并取得发展的关键，尖端技术可以让我们的空间旅行路途时间更短，去得更远。而这也是我们国家的奋斗目标以确保美国在21世纪仍能在太空领域独占鳌头。”
And former astronaut Buzz Aldrin said in a statement that he strongly endorses NASA's new direction. (Related: "Buzz Aldrin, First Man (to Pee) on the Moon, Sounds Off.")
"As an Apollo astronaut, I know the importance of always pushing new frontiers as we explore space," Aldrin said.
"The truth is that we have already been to the moon—some 40 years ago. A near-term focus on lowering the cost of access to space and on developing key, cutting-edge technologies to take us further, faster is just what our nation needs to maintain its position as the leader in space exploration for the rest of this century."深圳翻译www.transtounion.com
