That Time Obama Killed A Return To The Moon

Here's why a Clinton administration might pivot NASA back to the Moon, Ars Technica

"Obama killed Constellation after convening a committee in 2009 that was led by Norm Augustine, which reviewed Constellation and other options for US human spaceflight programs. One of that committee's members, former astronaut Leroy Chiao, said Monday night, "The Constellation program, frankly, had a lot of funding problems and some pretty serious technical problems. You know it probably was the right thing to do to cancel it. But it didn't mean we should not go to the Moon." Moreover, Chiao suggested the decision to remove the Moon as a possible destination was driven by politics, rather than what might be best for the US space enterprise. "Frankly, it came down to us on the committee to not talk too much about the Moon, because there was no way this administration was going to go there, because it was W's program," he said. "Ok, that's a pretty stupid reason not to go to the Moon. I'm hopeful with this election cycle that maybe the moon will be a possibility again."

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