Joe Gregorio
The NASA budget request, which actually included a slight budget boost up to $19 billion, would cut out the Constellation completely, extend the International Space Station's mission through at least 2020, and set aside $6 billion over five years to support commercial spacecraft development.
It would also increase funding for fundamental research, Earth science and development programs for ground-breaking technology for space exploration.
There's obviously a lot of hand-wringing about this, which is understandable, for many people it's an unthinkable change because NASA has been the sole provider of U.S. manned space flight for the past 50 years. Personally I'm thrilled.