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

Congress Hears Our SOS!

December 18, 2007

The Planetary Society applauds Congress’ work on the omnibus Appropriations bill, which increases funding for planetary exploration and restores funds to science within a total $17.3 billion for NASA. This action to appropriate funds for 2008 comes three months into the fiscal year.

The science increase is especially gratifying to Planetary Society members, who have fought for two years to restore funding to NASA's science budget as part of the Society's Save Our Science! campaign.

The omnibus Appropriations bill is still the subject of dispute between the President, who wants to include funding for the war in Iraq, and members of Congress, who generally want restrictions on that funding. The President has threatened a veto if the war funding is less than he expects.

However, all parties have agreed on the NASA portion of the bill, which strongly supports Mars exploration and continuing to launch missions at each Mars opportunity, increases Research and Analysis by $24 million, and adds $38 million for the Space Interferometry Mission. The budget also provides preparatory funding for both a solar probe and an outer planets mission. The latter will likely be the Europa orbiter that The Planetary Society has long advocated.

Congress boosted Earth science and observation missions with $40 million granted to begin implementing the National Research Council decadal plan. This is a major reversal after years of cuts to the Earth science program and is a crucial step to improving our understanding of global climate change.

The Constellation project, which includes both the new human-rated launch vehicles Ares and Orion and the lunar program, is fully funded. However $83 million was cut from advanced technologies work in the Exploration Directorate, and the bill prohibits NASA from spending money on projects exclusively for the development of a human Mars mission. Congress also directed NASA to undertake a lunar lander mission, although it is unclear whether the budget for this can be made up from money left over from fiscal year 2007.

The Appropriations bill included language that questions the proposed closure of Arecibo Observatory -- the most precise radar facility on Earth for tracking near-Earth objects -- and appears to direct NASA to provide additional funding to keep Arecibo open.

“If this Appropriations bill is passed, it will be an important victory for science and exploration,” said Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society. “Congress has listened to Society members, as well as to scientists and other members of the public. They heard our SOS -- Save Our Science.”

Stay tuned for further information.