Constellation In Trouble?

President-elect Obama's transition team dealing with NASA has sent the space agency a questionnaire containing some questions that might suggest Obama may consider altering or cancelling the development of the Orion capsule and its Aries launcher. During the campaign, Obama pledged to build both, though he declined to endorse returning to the Moon as a national goal.

Of course, this is the time for political tea leaf reading. It's precisely the job of the transition team to thoroughly understand NASA's current situation, which includes the agency's plans for moving ahead. Nothing in the questionnaire suggests the new administration wants to stop manned spaceflight.

To the extent cutting NASA's budget is being considered because of the economic slowdown, it should be noted that NASA currently takes up well less that one percent of federal spending, and as the federal budget balloons to deal with recession, NASA's share will shrink absent a major increase for the agency.