NASA is being directed by the US congress to continue with a project to put a robot on the moon. I wonder if this decision has anything to do with plans from China, Japan, India, et al to re-visit the moon for mapping and data gathering missions. Probably, huh?

The Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter was originally scheduled to land on the moon in 2011. It is part of the Lunar Precursor and Robotics Program that was originally planned to pre-date the installation of a moon colony.

The article contains a lot more information in ways that Congress is changing around the proposed NASA budget. NASA has been cutting programs this year in order to keep what they consider essential project in light of a budget shortfall. This seems to be a good case in point of why science and politics don't mix. Congress playing politics with NASA forces NASA to play politics in return.

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