Early this week, European scientists rolled out the specifics of six glitzy space exploration projects they've got planned for the next decade -- the missions will attempt to answer space science's "big questions." But in turbulent economic times, trying to allocate huge pools of funds for far-off projects is especially dicey.

The European Space Agency (Esa), with price tags in mind, is taking a hard look at the six missions before it whittles them down to three or four, of which two will be chosen to launch in 2017 and 2018. The agency, which obtains funding from its 18 member states, will dole out 475 million euros to each of the two final projects. The six projects under analysis are scientific whoppers and include a telescope to map unseen dark matter, advanced infrared telescopes, a hunt for nearby planets, plasma analysis and asteroid exploration.

With good reason, Esa officials are worried that the missions will surpass their allotted budgets and have warned the teams as such, following a string of criticism from budget-concerned European states. On a smaller scale, the whole thing is reminiscent of Nicolas Sarkozy's recent plan to entirely revamp the city of Paris -- exciting and revolutionary, but distant, extravagant, and maybe unnecessary, especially as Europe looks to catapult itself further out of recession.