Much like his late mentor in Jack Kemp, Ryan has always given the impression that he supports light taxation, limited government and stable money values precisely because they would do the most to lift the economic chances of those least well to do.
Opportunities to photograph Mercury from space are also limited because light sensitive equipment, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, are not allowed to look at objects close to the Sun, such as Mercury or Venus.
The team could retain its military observer capability and continue its fact-finding work, but with a limited scope in light of the violence in Syria, the report says.