NASA Budget Boost Will Draw Financial Fire

[zavvy]

<b>NASA Budget Boost Will Draw Financial Fire</b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />NASA's chief has warned space enthusiasts that the agency will become a financial target to outsiders when the US President sends his proposed budget to Congress on 7 February.<br /><br />NASA is expected to see an increase in its budget to fund a programme of human exploration of the Moon and Mars. But most other non-defence government agencies and departments should see cuts. So the outgoing NASA administrator, Sean O'Keefe, anticipates fights on all fronts for the space agency's proposed funds.<br /><br />"I expect this year to be just as hard, if not harder," agreed US congressman Dave Weldon, who sits on the subcommittee overseeing NASA funding. Both men were speaking at the 1st Space Exploration conference in Orlando, Florida, US, on Monday.<br /><br />NASA's anticipated budget increase is largely due to the plans to return to the Moon. President George W Bush outlined the Vision for Space Exploration programme in 2004. It aims to fly humans back to the Moon by 2020 and prepare them for future journeys to Mars. <br /><br />The programme outlined the future increases to NASA's budget needed to accomplish this feat. NASA requested and received $16.2 billion for Fiscal Year 2005 (1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005), a 5.6% increase on the previous year. The exploration plan anticipates a budget of $17.0 billion for FY2006 - a 4.7% increase. <br /><br />Of that total, the Moon-Mars programme - named Project Constellation - is anticipated to receive $6.6 billion over five years, beginning in FY2005.<br /><br />Key challenge<br />O'Keefe will leave NASA soon after the proposed budget is released, though President Bush is yet to nominate his replacement. A key challenge for any incoming administrator will be to maintain funding for the space program over the long term, says Weldon.<br /><br />"In the next two or three decades, we wil

 

[wvbraun]

Bush has already proved all the nay-sayers wrong who said the VSE was just a stunt to win over some votes. Two very substantial budget increases in a row and a veto-threat when the FY2005 budget was in trouble leave no doubt that he is serious about this. He doesn't talk about it much (in public) but his actions speak for themselves.

 

[frodo1008]

It is very unfortunate that the main area in which I find myself moving in-line with President Bush (and there are some that I oppose him, but that is not a subject for here) happens to be one of the few areas where he will quite probably find very stiff competition, and that is his proposals for the space program. It seems that almost every time there are positive space program proposals the "Budget Overrun Hawks" suddenly come out from under their rocks. They then try to make out that it is the space program that causes these overruns! This would actually be comical if it wasn't so important to both the future of the USA and the future of mankind on this planet! NASA's "ENTIRE" budget is less than 3% of the current budget deficit! If you were to run a Paredo chart (A chart that shows the relative importance of various items in a list of similar items) of the Federal Budget using almost any scale NASA's Budget would disappear almost completely compared to most Federal spending!<br /><br />Also, NASA's spending is one of the few items of government spending that should NOT be considered an expense. It is really an investment in technology that will pay many times the amount of that investment over time!! The entire miniaturization of electronics that is the basis of literally trillions of dollars in return was started to a great extent by the search for such miniaturization to bring the weight (and thus the cost) of spacecraft down drastically!!<br />

 

[mattblack]

Very true, frodo. I couldn't have expressed it better myself. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>One Percent of Federal Funding For Space: America <strong><em><u>CAN</u></em></strong> Afford it!!  LEO is a <strong><em>Prison</em></strong> -- It's time for a <em><strong>JAILBREAK</strong></em>!!</p> </div>

 

[lewcos]

Right Zavvy - everyone was quick to attack the president and now they are silent instead of coming out and saying they were wrong like real men and women.