While a 355-foot tall launch tower for NASA’s new ‘Ares I’ rocket – part of NASA’s Constellation moon program - recently marked its completion at the Vehicle Assembly Building of the Kennedy Space Center; a statement by White House officials has confirmed that cancellation of ‘Ares I’ is on the way!

NASA has had to face a lot of criticism for its $9-billion six-year spending on its rather ambitious Constellation program, pertaining to a proposed return to the moon by 2020, with billions spent on developing the rocket whose first scheduled crew flight is still years away.

In his budget request to be sent to Congress today, President Barack Obama will officially wipe out the Constellation program. The budget, likely to be marginally more than the present $18.7 billion, will deliver a deadly blow to the Ares 1 rocket – NASA’s planned space shuttle successor.

With Obama looking to turn to private companies for launching astronauts into space, rather than going ahead with Ares I, NASA’s aggressive moon program is on the verge on becoming an emblem of the agency’s uncertain future!

However, NASA maintains that the Ares I rocket expenditure is money well spent. Morrie Goodman, associate administrator for public affairs at NASA, said that Ares I “can be converted to accommodate a number of other rockets. It is not a symbol of an end, but could be a symbol of a beginning.”