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WASHINGTON - Efforts to replace the space shuttle fleet with new Moon-bound spacecraft would receive big spending increases under NASA's 2007 budget request, while nearly every other part of the U.S. space agency's budget would be held flat or decline.
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ATK Thiokol is preparing to begin work on a more powerful variant of the space shuttle solid-rocket motor it has long produced as part of a streamlined NASA exploration plan that would land astronauts on the Moon in early 2017, a year earlier than previously envisioned.
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Pure science is taking a backseat to long-term exploration goals as NASA prepares to send robotic scouts to the Moon. Still, a rich scientific haul will be inevitable, even without the peer-review wrangling that normally picks targets for expensive space-science missions.
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