NASA restores some astrobiology funds? Options

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1106

No word on HOW he'll restore them, though -- or how much.

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

An April 4 NASA "Note to the Community" on "Funding for the Science Mission Directorate Research and Analysis (R&A) Program, including Astrobiology" ( http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/viewre...497/RA_Note.pdf ):

"Astrobiology research funding is reduced in the budget for several reasons. It should also be noted that astrobiology experienced a rapid growth in funding several years ago. Prior to this reduction, the Astrobiology research budget was comparable to the astrophysics research budget and was almost double the heliophysics research budget. This reduction brings it more into balance with the rest of the research program. In addition, the lower flight rate for astrobiology related missions (e.g. fewer Mars missions in the next 5 years, delay for a Europa orbiter mission, delay for a Terrestrial Planet Finder mission etc.), plus the recognition that human exploration missions to Mars are further in the future than previously assumed, have reduced some of the urgency for rapid progress in astrobiology research. Astrobiology remains one of the larger disciplines and an important area of research in support of NASA’s program."

[ljk4-1]

"...plus the recognition that human exploration missions to Mars are further in the future than previously assumed, have reduced some of the urgency for rapid progress in astrobiology research. Astrobiology remains one of the larger disciplines and an important area of research in support of NASA’s program."

How much further now? The 2030s weren't far and vague enough?

Maybe on my last day in the nursing home, I'll look up between all
my tubes and wires to squint dimly at my antique plasma TV screen
to see a human boot step off a ladder onto some reddish dirt....

...to be immediately grabbed by a mechanical arm and shoved back
into the spacecraft by the superior AI robots that were already there
conducting far more thorough - and much less expensive -
investigations of the Red Planet.