Sadly, it looks like the recent budget cuts that President Obama announced during his State of the Union address have hit NASA where it hurts: the Ares spaceship program, set to replace the aging Space Shuttles in the next few years, appears to have been entirely cancelled.  In addition, planned future missions to the moon have been at least postponed if not entirely written off as well.  It is a shame that our nation, once at the forefront of space exploration, must once again take a backward step in the face of limited financial resources.