Study: NASA still can not afford a trip to Mars, but deserves funding for this program Bashny.Net

It's no secret that long-term goal of NASA - flights to Mars. But how realistic is it performing? Unfortunately, the outlook is not particularly rosy. National Research Council (NIS) has analyzed the NASA space program and concluded that the available budget is insufficient for walking in space. "While the pace of funding NASA lag behind inflation, any attempt to promote the program of Mars will be a failure," - stated the NIS.

However, the National Research Council does not believe that NASA should reduce their ambitions. Instead, he suggests the US government to fork out to NASA to implement their plans. Increased funding by only 5 per cent a year may be enough that the Agency may arrange to send people to Mars with minimal risk. But to increase the NASA budget should be not only to report on the progress of the program, but also by the international space cooperation to improve the political position of the United States. Do it will not be easy, given the cooling in relations with China Space Agency and Russia.

However, NIS claims that the game is worth the candle. In addition to performing short-term political and scientific purposes, as well as the development of joint plans of development of Mars, an ambitious space program, NASA will inspire students to new research, unite mankind a common purpose, and even, perhaps, to keep our species from extinction. However, it's unclear whether the White House will listen to the advice in an era of budget cuts, but it is obvious that NASA is, at least, there is one powerful ally - NIS.

According to RIA Novosti , total funding by NASA in 2014 will be $ 17, $ 7 billion. The same amount requested in the past year, but in fact the agency has received only $ 16, 6 billion.

Source: habrahabr.ru/post/225569/