Last October, NASA received a committee report that called existing planning “unsustainable.” The agency couldn’t even budget the money to deorbit the International Space Station as planned in 2016—itself a waste of the construction costs—and the vehicles needed for its planned return to the moon wouldn’t be ready by the 2030s… “if ever,” in the committee’s words.
So today, NASA administrator Charles Bolden announced a new five-year budget plan that significantly changes the nation’s spaceflight priorities.
Full story: NASA reboots, focuses on cheaper, sustainable exploration