Twixel

President Obama announced the budget today.  The rumors surrounding his plans for NASA turned out to be true.
Obama wants to eliminate Constellation.  This eliminates Ares I, Ares V, Orion and Altair.  Shuttle ends this year.  That leaves us with nada for a manned launcher.
Granted – Ares I has problems, but there [...]

China is aggressively accelerating the pace of its manned space program by developing a 17,000 lb. man-tended military space laboratory planned for launch by late 2010. The mission will coincide with a halt in U.S. manned flight with phase-out of the shuttle.
The project is being led by the General Armaments Department of the People’s Liberation [...]