Catch22,

To be frank, it looks pretty grim.

The funding added for manned exploration will total $12 billion over the next five years. Most of this added funding for new exploration will come from reallocation of $11 billion that is currently within the five-year total NASA budget of $86 billion. President Bush will request an additional $1 billion to NASA's existing five-year plan, or an average of $200 million per year

What that tells me is that the unmanned programs will be gutted to fund more than 90% of the "Return To the Moon" program. You’ll note that the new money – which is proposed, not a given – is 1 in 12. The mission to Pluto would be an example of what is on the chopping block.

I am minded of the cancellation of Great Britain’s Black Arrow project back in 1971, in part due to the development costs of the Concorde, which also needed funds that could otherwise have gone to the space program. In the end, Concorde won out. It was seen as having more commercial potential, and the British space program was relegated to the status of a museum piece.

I hope I'm wrong about this.

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Eudaimonia