Is it known whether there are any strings attached to this new billion, or directions as to how the money should be spent ? It would be very easy to throw a billion into the general NASA pot and not have much to show for it. I'm guessing also that it's a one-off payment, rather than a commitment to increase NASA's budget by a billion each year. If that's right, it's not easy to make decent investments longer-term against the arrival of a one-off sum of money. It would certainly be nice if some funding were committed to prolonging/securing existing science missions, as already mentioned. On the other hand, a billion would fund a brand new mission. I fear, however, that we won't see much tangible gain from this money, and that the overall NASA bureaucracy may have first dibs. Thoughts ?