Well, it looks like president Obama will be making a short visit to Kennedy Space Center tomorrow, where he will give a speech clarifying the space agency’s future. There has been a lot of speculation about what exactly he will say. Will he just promote his original plan, or has all the wailing and gnashing of teeth had some effect? I don’t know, but there are rumors flying around that there may be a compromise in the works.

This article suggests that Obama might bring back to Orion capsule, to be used as a lifeboat for the space station. This sounds to me like a primarily political decision, designed to keep some space-related jobs and to give the illusion that we are not entirely dependent upon Russian transportation to and from the space station.

I’m going to refrain from saying more until after I’ve heard what Obama has to say tomorrow, and the inevitable chorus of opinions from around the web. It will certainly be interesting…

Update: This PDF from the Office of Science and Technology Policy has some more concrete information. (Thanks to Joe Shoer for the link!)