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Grounded? New recommendations that may mean the days of sending astronauts into space are coming to an end. Surf’s up. Hurricane Bill bringing dangerous conditions to the east coast during one of the biggest weeks of summer. From NBC News world headquarters in New York, this is NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Good evening. I’m David Gregory in for Brian Williams tonight. Will American astronauts return to the moon in the foreseeable future? NBC News has learned that plans to travel there and beyond may in fact be scrubbed. And that would put tens of thousands of jobs in jeopardy. Our report tonight from NBC’s Tom Costello.

 

Since the last astronauts walked on the moon nearly 37 years ago, NASA’s focus has been on space shuttles and station close to earth. But the Columbia disaster in 2003 changed all that. “Returning to the moon is an important step for our space program.” A year after Columbia, President Bush ordered the space shuttles be grounded in 2010 and NASA focus on a new generation of rockets and space craft to carry astronauts back to the moon. The first lunar mission set for 2020. But now all of that is in jeopardy. And it’s all about dollars and sense. “It’s very difficult to find an exploration scenario that actually fits within this very restrictive budget guidance.”

 

Former astronaut Sally Ride is on a White House panel with most now convinced the moon will have to wait. Getting there by 2020 would cost at least another $3- $5 billion each year. But killing the moon mission would mean losing highly skilled jobs. As of 2011, NASA will have no spacecraft to carry astronauts to the station. Instead relying on the Russians and may be commercial rockets. But then what? Without a moon mission, where does NASA go?

 

The man who ran NASA under President Bush says giving up on the moon would be a mistake. “It’s about what you value and if America is going to continue to be a forward looking, exploring, pioneering nation or not.” “We set goals and then to provide the funding to achieve them. This is not a case study of excellence in national leadership.” With the shuttle discovery now sitting on the pad for Tuesday’s launch, NASA’s future has never been certain less certain. Tom Costello, NBC News, Washington.

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