More Rumors About Obama's Plan for NASA

The Wall Street Journal’s attention grabbing headline yesterday reiterates the rumors heard in space policy circles since the Augustine committee report was released last fall — that NASA will turn to the commercial sector to build the new space transportation systems to take American astronauts into space. The article also dampens expectations of a significant budget increase for NASA in FY2011. Although there had been talk of a $1 billion increase a few weeks ago, more recent rumors are that those hopes will not be met. The FY2011 budget is due to be released a week from today, which should finally answer some of the questions about whether President Obama supports a robust NASA space program or not.