Cash-strapped NASA in quandary over space station, shuttle, Mars

International Space Station

A government-appointed panel reviewing NASA's human spaceflight program is debating whether the space shuttle and space station should be kept going at the expense of NASA's plans to send astronauts to Mars. The shuttle fleet is scheduled to be retired in 2010, while the International Space Station would be destroyed in 2016.

The meetings of the Augustine panel, headed by  former CEO of Lockheed Martin Norman Augustine, have hosted a variety of opinions from subject matter experts since the 10-member panel first convened in June. The growing consensus is that NASA should extend the life of the shuttle primarily because the shuttle can carry more cargo between earth and the I.S.S than any rocket currently in use. There is divided opinion about continuing both programs beyond 2016.

But current budget constraints prevent NASA from extending the life of the shuttle without delaying plans for further space endeavors such as putting humans on Mars or even returning to the moon.

One panel member suggested that the space agency is in a quandary over the situation because it doesn't have the resources to "continue a world-class, world-leading space program" while planning "the next step."

There are seven shuttle flights left on tap before the fleet is retired. Construction of the I.S.S started in 1998 and is just now in the final stages of completion.

The panel, which includes former astronaut Sally Ride, will submit its recommendations to the Obama administration at the end of August.

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