George W Bush’s war on science, including space science

George W Bush is continuing his war on science.

Including space science. By Frank Gaglioti in the USA:

Cuts to NASA budget gut space research

20 May 2006

In a far-reaching reorientation of its programs, the US National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) budget has effectively capped science spending for the five-year period from 2007 to 2011.

Programs designed to investigate more fundamental scientific questions about the character of the solar system and the universe are being sacrificed to enable NASA to carry out President George Bush’s grandiose scheme to establish a permanent settlement on the moon in preparation for a manned mission to Mars.

NASA’s announcement in February was part of Bush’s budget cuts to federal science spending by 1 percent to $59.8 billion.

The changes to NASA’s program are mirrored in the overall science budget, which is focussed more narrowly on projects with commercial payoffs or to strengthen the US military.

Bush’s “American Competitive Initiative,” which is aimed at bolstering US corporate interests at the expense of their rivals, will consume $5.9 billion.

In a cost-cutting move prompted by President Bush’s moon-Mars initiative, NASA could summarily put an end to Voyager, the legendary 28-year mission that has sent a spacecraft farther from Earth than any object ever made by humans: here.