CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA enters 2006 full of doubt whether its funding requirements would be met as it embarks on its ambitious program of Vision for Space Exploration. This particular program requires additional funding of $3 billion and NASA is not so sure that the Congress will give the go ahead for this.
The nation's premier space agency released a list of its achievements in the bygone year, hoping to persuade the Congress to look at the bright spots among which one was the safe flight of the Shuttle Discovery. This was the first time that a manned shuttle was put into space after the Columbia disaster in February 2003. And although the vexed foam issue, which resulted in the Columbia tragedy, continued to haunt NASA throughout the Discovery flight, it did ensure a fair degree of success for the space agency.
Another feather in NASA's cap for the year 2005 was the successful stint of the Mars Rovers. Mars Rover Opportunity got trapped in a sand dune in April and took until June to get free, but the Rovers did send back data of water on the Red Planet.
NASA's Deep Impact made an impression on comet Tempel 1 on July 4 and it was for the first time that scientists were able to peek into a comet's innards. In September NASA unveiled plans for the Crew Exploration Vehicle, the next generation shuttles, which will be pressed into service once the current fleet retires in 2010. This area continues to be debated hotly and NASA could end up the loser here. The CEV will also send men to moon in 2018.
The Cassini-Huygens probe, a joint venture of NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency, spent 2005 tracking Saturn's moons with Huygens successfully landing on Titan in January. A half-finished International Space Station turned five in November and continues to eat money although nobody is talking of pulling it down. NASA has said that the shuttles could fly again in May 2006, though it remains to be seen if the foam issue is solved by then.
