So the blue-ribbon panel reporting to President Barack Obama on the future of human spaceflight at NASA finally turned in the executive summary of their report. It was only about a week past their 31 August deadline, pretty good considering all the options they had to digest — thousands of permutations of different rocket designs, destinations and budget scenarios. The gist of the report is essentially what we reported for this week’s print issue: NASA’s existing mission and plans for the future are dead, without more money.

But one of my editors pointed out the wonderful and interesting range in headlines surrounding the report:

• The BBC’s way with words: Underfunding shackles Nasa vision
• The NYTimes’ slightly more staid approach: Panel Calls Program of NASA Unfeasible
• The Orlando Sentinel’s overarching concern with rocketry: Ares may look dead but keeps kicking
• And, a personal favorite, from the local DC satire site, Wonkette: It’s Like Barack Obama Doesn’t Even Think Mars Is That Awesome

  But there is very little awesomeness for Obama to work with here. As the panel insisted over and over again, they weren’t making recommendations, they were just laying out ‘options’. It will be up to Obama to make some tough decisions.

  Image: NASA