March 22, 2015

Save Opportunity & Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter

Please call Congress to save Opportunity and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). They need YOUR support as the President's budget request has zero money for both amazing missions. Opportunity costs just $14 million a year to keep alive and exploring Mars.

Oppy is entering a fascinating area of very old rocks and will be providing incredible new science. She must not be shut down to save a tiny fraction of the budget. The same goes for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter which is also returning valuable science for a few pennies of the NASA budget.

Please call your Senators and Congressman and specify Opportunity and LRO must be specifically included in the budget. Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. Target members of the Space Subcommittees and Appropriations Committees as well as your own Members.

Read the Planetary Society's excellent analysis, which shows how these two missions passed with high ratings in NASA's Planetary Science Senior Review:
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/casey-dreier/2015/0315-is-opportunity-a-mission-whose-time-has-passed.html

While these small sums do not require cuts elsewhere, were that the case, it would be better to delay or reduce funding for non-----space projects like the expensive new Central Campus and HQ buildings at KSC which will involve demolishing the historic Apollo-era buildings. Save constructing new buildings for a time when we have money to spare.