In article ,=20
says...
On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 04:29:10 -0800, "Max Power"
wrote:
=20
Voyager probes in funding crisis

Nasa's twin Voyager probes may have to close down in October to save mon=
ey,=20
the US space agency has said.

Launched in 1977, Voyagers One and Two are now more than 14 billion and =
11=20
billion km from Earth, respectively.

They are on their final mission to locate the boundary between the Sun's=
=20
domain and interstellar space.

But the agency's Earth-Sun System division has had to cut its budget for=
=20
next year from $74m to $53m, meaning that some projects will be abandone=
d.

Although the Voyager probes are thought to have another 15 years of life=
=20
left in them, they are very expensive to run, costing Nasa about $4.2m a=
=20
year for operations and data analysis.

Other missions like Ulysses, which was launched in 1990 to explore the S=
un's=20
polar regions, might also have to be abandoned after the end of the fisc=
al=20
year in October.

Although the decision is not yet final, some Nasa scientists are prepari=
ng=20
themselves for the worst. Voyager project scientist Edward Stone of the=
=20
California Institute of Technology told Nature magazine: "We are current=
ly=20
developing a plan for shutdown."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...re/4338245.stm

Published: 2005/03/10 19:58:54 GMT

=A9 BBC MMV=20


Bush will not finance any science project that conflicts with the
Bible.
=20
In other words, the probes might accidently run over God, while he
masturbates in some dark corner of Heaven.
=20
=20
stretching that thread of rampant paranoia just a little too tight with=20
that idea.