But chances to survey Pluto are rare, so academic groups pressurised NASA to consider plans for a new cheaper mission. This now looks uncertain, although the Senate Appropriations Committee last week told NASA to ignore Bush's directive to kill the call for new Pluto proposals. The whole process is crazy, trying to take programme action on a budget that's not revealed. NASA has so far spent dollar 900 million on this potential replacement for the shuttle. Instead, Bush is boosting NASA's Space Launch Initiative fund by 64 per cent to dollar 475.6 million in search of other successors to the shuttle.
Details are vague at best.
NASA says this might enable it to move forward the date for a sample-return mission.