Red Planet meets red ink: budget ax could chop two NASA Mars missions...The budget to be released by Monday is expected to include a one-third cut in NASA's Mars program, in part to pay for other cost overruns within the agency.
What's funny is how we all thought that by now, the USA would have colonized places like Mars!
Remember Jefferson Airplane's Blows Against The Empire LP of 1970 - which predicted that in 1990 Hippies would "Occupy" a spaceship built by the government, in order to emigrate to the far corners of the universe?
People really believed it was possible! And judging by the progress that had already been made in the space program, it was.... but we abandoned the dream!
Popular culture, popular belief was that space travel would soon be possible - and commonplace!
From "Blows Against The Empire" ~ Jefferson Starship, 1970:
We intend to hijack the first sound interstellar or interplanetary starship built by the people of this planet. A time of 3-7 months will be needed for tantronic conversion of the machinery to makeit usable for practical travel - involving light years. We need people on Earth now to beginpreparing the necessary tools. There will be room for 7,000 or more people. If it seems that yourhead is into this, please write & talk about something for a bit. You will not be contacted immediately. Please just prepare your minds & your bodies. Experiment - move your mind.Practice telepathy & telekinesis - if you feel it.
Search out Atlantis. It lives and breathes insideof you. Join us - a plunge into reality.
- Starship Foundation
NASA chief Charlie Bolden will roll out the space agency's next budget Monday (Feb. 13th) in a room full of reporters — and a bunch of twitterers too!
The space agency has invited 20 of its so-called "tweeps" to Monday's press conference at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The lucky 20 were chosen by lottery on friday, following a 24-hour online registration window that closed Thursday afternoon.
"For first time at HQ, social media & traditional media will be together at the 2013 budget event. Want to join us?" @NASA tweeted Thursday, while the window was still open.
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