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NASA plans revamped space program
[Iran Press TV Latest] The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced new plans for developing the technology needed to send people to Mars. The new program aims to develop commercial space taxi services and launch satellites to monitor climate change from the Red Planet. All NASA field centers will collaborate in the project with the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which is in charge of a $6 billion, five-year program to oversee technology demonstrations. The Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage a $5.8 billion five-year project to help private companies develop orbital transportation services. The Maryland, California and Ohio centers will be in charge of an Earth-observation campaign to keep a close watch on the impacts of climate change. "This is step one, to identify programs that are going to be funded by this budget," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden told reporters. This is while NASA prepares to end its space shuttle program in the fall, causing thousands of contract employees to lose their jobs. US President Barack Obama has suggested adding an extra $2 billion to NASA's annual $18 billion budget, which in Bolden's opinion should result in more jobs. "We're expanding the amount of programs that we have so that we can try to put people to work who are interested in being part of the space program," he said. "A very serious and real concern for everyone is the jobs, but this is what we call progress," Bolden added. "Unfortunately, if you look at every area of technology in this country, as you advance, there are fewer and fewer manual-type jobs." Posted by: Fred 2010-04-11 |
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