Europe unites over space budget介绍欧洲航天工程花费

超支了还没效果，比起来中国航天的效率真高

Europe unites over space budget
Countries commit cash to martian rover and satellites.
Jenny Hogan

Two days of tense negotiations over Europe's spending on space have ended happily for the European Space Agency (ESA).

After meeting in Berlin on 5 and 6 December, ministers from ESA's 17 member states agreed to provide 95% of the funding requested by the space agency. The agency's director-general, Jean-Jacques Dordain, describes the result as "fantastic".

ESA had asked for a total of 8.8 billion (US$10.3 billion) to cover its running costs until the end of 2010 and to begin new programmes, including sending a rover to Mars and launching Earth-observation satellites.

It got almost everything it wanted, with some programmes receiving more money than requested. The only disappointment, says Dordain, was that the meeting failed to decide whether ESA should embark on a project with Russia's space agency to build a reusable, six-man space plane.

ESA wanted about 50 million to carry out a preliminary, two-year study of how ESA could be involved in building Clipper, the vehicle that Russia is proposing as a replacement for its Soyuz craft.

Even without that money, Dordain says the matter will continue to be discussed. "We need two transportation systems in the world," he says. NASA has not invited ESA to collaborate on the Crew Exploration Vehicle, the successor to its space shuttle, and "this is the reason why we were proposing to be a partner on the Clipper project", explains Dordain.

Action station

Contributions to running the International Space Station and its science projects have fallen slightly short of the requested 0.8 billion. However, the amount pledged shows that Europeans are still committed to the project, says Dordain.

"I shall be able to send a very important signal to the international partners and in particular to the United States," he says.

ESA will now push for its Columbus science module, ready and waiting in Germany, to be launched on the earliest possible shuttle and connected to the space station.

Science projects

The budget decisions boost ESA's science programme, which will get the full 2.1 billion it requested. This translates to a budget that will go up by 2.5% a year over the next five years. And it is enough to allay fears that flagship missions would be cancelled in the face of budget shortfalls (see 'Europe's cash crisis puts space plans under threat')

It will also lay the foundations of the 'Cosmic vision', a roadmap for future science missions stretching to 2025 that was presented to ministers at the meeting. "It gives the scientists in Europe a lot of opportunities," said Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, Chairman of the ESA Ministerial Council and Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs.

The science funding comes as a relief to ESA officials. In the past, the scientific programme has suffered because all member states must contribute an amount determined by their national output, or GDP. Any budget increase requires a unanimous decision by the nations. "Even a week ago I did not believe Dordain could achieve an increase of 2.5%," says Brinkhorst.

Rovers return

Among the optional programmes, to which member states can choose not to contribute, there was strong support for plans to land a rover on Mars. Slated for launch in 2011, ExoMars secured more money than was asked for: the mission might now be enhanced by adding more instruments or a companion orbiter.

The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programme, which aims to launch satellites and coordinate Earth observation across Europe, also received extra cash. This fuels hopes that CryoSat, the ice-watching satellite lost on launch in October, will be resurrected for a second attempt.

The two-day meeting actually wrapped up early, because the delegates reached agreement more quickly than expected. "At a time when a lot of people have doubts about Europe's capacity to act together, I think this was historic. We did act together and we have taken up new chances," says Brinkhorst.

图片说明：欧洲的快速帆船看起来前景不明

欧盟空间预算超支
--花了过多的国家资金在 火星 探测器和人造卫星上。
Jenny Hogan

经过二天紧张的谈判最终愉快的确定了欧洲太空中心(ESA)在空间上的花费。

在十二月 5 日和6日的柏林会议之后,支持ESA 的 17个成员国的主管同意提供95% 的筹备资金给太空中心。 代理的局长 , Jean - Jacques Dordain,认为最后结果是 "奇妙的" 。

ESA 已经  要求 总数为88亿欧元 (美金$ 103亿) 的资金包括它的直到 2010 年底运行费用和开始新的计划,新计划包括派遣  一个探测器到火星和发射地球- 观测卫星。

几乎每个想要的项目, 批准的钱总是比请求的要多。 Dordain 说,唯一没有确定的, 是会议无法决定ESA 是否应该和俄国的太空中心一起开始着手一个计划，制造一个可以重复使用的, 载六个人的太空飞机。

ESA 初步想要花约5000万欧元 ，2年时间学会 如何解决制造ESA “快速帆船”的问题，俄国会积极参与，目前的初步是正在为她的 Soyuz 飞船计划一个替换的交通工具 。

Dordain 说：即使没有钱，也将会继续被讨论要点。他说：" 全世界需要二个运输系统"。 美国航空与太空总署没有邀请 ESA 在“人员快速探险交通工具”上合作, 它是下一代太空梭， Dordain解释说："这是我们为正在规划中的“快速帆船”计划上需要合伙人的理由"。

空间站

国际空间站和它的科学计划的花费被稍微减少到8亿欧元 。 然而，Dordain 说，欧洲仍然用数量保证了被委托的计划的执行。

他说" 我可以将 在个别项目中  非常重要的信号给国际的合伙人如美国"。

ESA 现在将会急切要求 它的哥伦布科学组件，在德国预备好和等候, 乘最早的可能的太空梭上发射并送到空间站。

科学计划

预算决定继续支持ESA 的科学项目, 将会得到全部科学项目请求的21亿欧元。 这说明预算将会在未来5年每年上升 2.5% 。 它充分的消除了任务面对预算不足会被取消的恐惧 ( 参看 ' 欧洲的现金危机放空间计划在威胁之下')

它也将提供 '宇宙的视觉' 的基础费用,因为她是未来科学任务发展到 2025 的路标，在会议上被提交给了部长们。 Laurens- Jan Brinkhorst, ESA 财务部长会议的主席 荷兰的财务部长说，"它给欧洲的科学家许多机会"。

对 ESA 官员来说科学的预算完成让他们轻松。 因为所有的成员国一定依照他们的国家支出 , 或国内生产估计决定的预算 , 所以在过去，科学项目有受压制。 任何的预算增加需要成员国家的意见一致的决定。Brinkhorst 说，"在一个星期以前我甚至不  相信 Dordain 可以达成 2.5% 的增幅"。

漫步者返回

在可选择的项目之中，该要和不要哪一个  有助于集中力量,为计划登陆火星的漫步者提供更强的支援。 计划在 2011 年升空开始旅程的,ExoMars 比预算 得到了更多的钱: 任务得到了增强现在可能增加较多的工具或一个伴行人造卫星。

全球的监听为环境和安全规划项目, 目标是穿越欧洲发射人造宇宙站和协调地球观测,也获得了额外的资金。这是CryoSat希望的油料（资金比喻为油料）,在十月发射失败的冰观测卫星,将会制造并第二次尝试发射。

两天的会议实际上比预计结束的早,因此这代表比预期更快的达成协议。Brinkhorst 说，"当许多人对有关欧洲的能力一起怀疑的时候, 这次的事我认为是历史性的。 我们一起做了努力，而且我们有着手寻找新的机会"。