Well, it's officially dead but the ISS has been extended to beyond 2016 so that's one glimmer of hope in this bleak news.
This is going to haunt Obama in the southern states, particularly the launcher states, Florida and the like, they're not exactly keen on him at the moment.
However, on the other hand it's not as if the west has money to throw around at the moment. Moving a lot of the work over into the private sectors and giving them greater backing could well pay off in more designs like Spaceship One and an increase in space traffic, although sadly the costs of said endeavors measured against the current financial problems means that not many companies would be willing to take the risk unless a financial reward was guaranteed.
I can see where this is coming from, but I don't like it, no more than I like the idea of the Shuttle fleet going out of service before a replacement has been created. This is something that should have been sorted a decade ago, but I guess budget cuts and the like have always put NASA on the back burner.
I personally think that we need the ability to travel within the solar system, because I can't see things getting any better on this planet and so for the continued survival of the human race in some shape or form, we need a group of people not to be here when it eventually all goes wrong. Of course, you have the problem that if that same group of people make the same mistakes all over again then what's the blooming point, but at the very least they should have the option to make those mistakes, at the very least we should have them there. If they make the same mistakes and kill themselves off, well then, nothing ventured nothing gained. The clock is ticking but people don't seem to be listening to it!
