Update: Obama NASA cuts; Twofer Tuesday: Space Oddity / Major Tom
Update 2: WSJ reports Team Obama rolling back some of their cuts. Sounds half axxed to me, using one program to have a space pod to deploy from the ISS if needed. Uh we still can’t get to orbit alone right? Well don’t we think we will need to get up there? What if we need to deploy a defensive measure :
The president’s funding plan for the National Aeronautical and Space Administration has faced stiff opposition from Congress, in part because it seeks to cut off funding for existing rocket programs that lawmakers support.
The concessions offered Tuesday are an attempt to win backing for the White House plan ahead of a trip by the president Thursday to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There, Mr. Obama is expected to lay out details of the decision to use the Orion space capsule, developed by Lockheed Martin Corp., as an on-board emergency escape system for U.S. crews during their stays aboard the international space station. In an earlier proposal, the administration had planned to end funding for Orion….
Update: Lookee here Neil Armstrong and Apollo 13 astronauts agree with our assessment. h/t AceHQ
Canceling Constellation could lead to thousands of layoffs at some of America’s biggest aerospace contractors, including Lockheed Martin, the Boeing Co. and ATK. Such job losses are among the factors behind congressional opposition to the cancellation. Armstrong and his fellow astronauts emphasize the bigger implications, however, and say in their letter that the decision would put the nation on a “long downhill slide to mediocrity.”The letter notes that the U.S. space effort will be dependent for years to come on the Russians for transport to the International Space Station, at a cost of more than $50 million per seat.
“For the United States, the leading spacefaring nation for nearly half a century, to be without carriage to low Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit for an indeterminate time into the future, destines our nation to become one of second- or even third-rate stature,” they said in the letter…
I diverge from the majority left and right on this one I guess. I think we should keep our manned space flight program. I don’t like needing to hitch a ride with anyone to get to the space station and who knows where else years from now.
All the tiny little things (microprocessors et al) that made thousands of yrs of tech evolution in like a blink came from NASA afaik…here’s a shout out to the space program..
Eddie Izzard does a great routine on how Americans are raised believing they can do anything, how we went to the moon, and how Brits are discouraged from aiming as high as working in a hat shop…they build a ladder instead of flying to the moon….wouldn’t want Americans to give up their dreams and belief we can do anything…
Update 2: US Dollar hits 15 month low..
Update 2: US Dollar hits a 15 month low, this as Geithner said in Tokyo today that we fully support a strong US Dollar. I wonder if he got more laughter? He has been ham handed on Dollar policy since March.
The dollar dropped to a new 15-month low as the the euro rose above $1.50 Wednesday morning, even as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated the administration’s stance that a strong dollar is good for the U.S. economy.Geithner, in a speech in Tokyo on his way to a summit of Asian finance ministers in Singapore, also said low interest rates and other government supports for the economy were still needed.
The expectation that the Federal Reserve will keep the key U.S. interest rate near zero has been weighing on the dollar. Higher interest rates make a currency more attractive for investors, since bets made in that currency can earn higher returns.
Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar hit a 15-month low of 74.775.
“The momentum and the conviction that the Fed will not raise rates any time soon, coupled with the fact that the major central banks continue to provide liquidity liberally” means the “fundamental force” weighing on the dollar will persist, said Brown Brothers Harriman analyst Marc Chandler in a research note Wednesday….
China is making noises about letting the Yuan rise. This would be helpful to all the other economies whose exports are suffering as we let our dollar fall, they are trapped while the Yuan is pegged. Let’s see what shakes out. IMO it is a bad sign for the doollar. This would have been GREAT 5 years ago. Now it is a commentary on the weakness of our currency.
China sent its clearest signal yet that it was ready to allow yuan appreciation after an 18-month hiatus, saying on Wednesday it would consider major currencies, not just the dollar, in guiding the exchange rate.
In its third-quarter monetary policy report, the People’s Bank of China departed from well-worn language on keeping the yuan “basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level.” It hinted instead at a shift from an effective dollar peg that has been in place since the middle of last year…
Market Mover: Durable Goods come in Weak; Ford narrows 1Q loss, Gold on a tear back over $900…
Durable Goods Orders just released for March..came in less weak than expected, down 0.8%, but February also revised downward..
FORD is kickin axx and takin names on their results, FORD is government free! Now with LESS GOVERNMENT! They should put it on a label it will increase sales no doubt!!!!
Ford Motors posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011 and did not expect to seek U.S. government loans, sending its shares up more than 22 percent.
The company expects to be profitable in 2011, Ford CEO Alan Mulally told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau.
“We are really turning the tide in North America,” Mulally said, adding that the industry may have hit bottom.
In response to that, Ford will increase production in the U.S. by 25 percent in the second quarter, he added.
GOLD is on a tear, back up to$910.5 and still climbing….
MiM still likes Gold anytime it backs down under 850….
Bowie montage courtesy of midevilfreako
Moderate in the Middle 