• PROJECTS
  • Advocacy and Education
  • Extrasolar Planets
  • Innovative Technologies
  • International Mission Participation
  • Mars Exploration
  • Near Earth Objects
  • Search for Extraterrestrial Life
  • Past Projects
• THE PLANETARY REPORT
• PLANETARY RADIO
• BLOG
• SOCIETY UPDATES

browse projects: Apophis Mission Design Competition Carl Sagan Fund for the Future Catalog of Exoplanets FINDS Exo-Earths International Year of Astronomy 2009 LIFE Experiment: Phobos LightSail - The Future of Solar Sailing Messages from Earth Observing Earth Pioneer Anomaly Planetary Microphones SETI Optical Telescope SETI Radio Searches SETI@home Shoemaker NEO Grants Space Advocacy Space Information

browse space topics: 2001 Mars Odyssey Asteroids and Comets Cassini-Huygens Chandra X-Ray Observatory Chandrayaan-1 Chang'e 1 Compare the Planets Dawn Deep Impact Earth Extrasolar Planets Genesis Hayabusa (MUSES-C) Hubble Space Telescope Jupiter Kaguya (SELENE) Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Mars Mars Exploration Rovers Mars Express Mars Global Surveyor Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Science Laboratory Mercury MESSENGER Moon Near Earth Objects Neptune New Horizons Past Missions Phoenix Planetary Analogs Planetary Exploration Timelines Pluto and Charon Private Missions Rosetta Saturn Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence SMART-1 SOHO Space Imaging Spitzer Space Telescope Stardust Trans-Neptunian Objects Ulysses Uranus Venus Venus Express Voyager Weekly Planetary Radio Trivia Contest

Projects: S.O.S: Save Our Science!

Campaign Update: Dog Days for Save our Science

by Louis Friedman

October 25, 2006

The dog days of August turned into fall political campaigning rather quickly -- so quickly that the U.S. Congress could not find time to wrap up the NASA budget, or to provide funding for most of the other federal government agencies. Thus, NASA's budget status is now the same as it was in July: the House appropriations committee has passed a bill with no total increase for NASA, but did direct additional funding for science and for a Europa mission new start, while the Senate committee did not address the science issue specifically, but passed an amendment increasing NASA's overall funding.

The House appropriations bill has passed the full House of Representatives. The Senate appropriations subcommittee bill has not yet been presented to either the full committee or to the Senate for vote. Congress has adjourned until after the November elections. A continuing resolution provides funding for government agencies at fiscal year 2006 levels through November 17, 2006. At that point, Congress is expected to come back into session to pass either the appropriations bills or another continuing resolution. It is possible that all the remaining federal government appropriations will be rolled into a single "Omnibus Bill." What language will accompany that bill, or what the NASA final appropriation will be, will become the subject of House-Senate negotiation.

Space Science Trashed!

Some Washington insiders think that if the Democrats win either the House or the Senate, Congress will choose to forego a "lame duck" session, and instead wait until January for the new Congress to take action.

We are watching this laborious process closely, and when the time comes, we will act to support the Senate subcommittee action to add money to NASA's budget through the amendment to the NASA appropriations introduced by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX). We will also support the House action directing increases to space science, including the Europa mission.

Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), the retiring Chairman of the House Science Committee, opened a hearing in late September with the following comment: "Let me start by reiterating my support for the President's Vision for Space Exploration, which I think is an important national undertaking. And let me also reiterate my determination that NASA not become a single-mission agency; human space flight can't succeed at the expense of Earth science, space science, and aeronautics."

We agree.