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Stories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
How the heck did NASA (and science) get such a good 2018 budget?
Congress outright rejected most of the Trump administration's controversial science cuts.
NASA wins big in 2018 budget deal
With the passage of the 2018 spending bill, NASA just got its best budget since 2009. Europa, Earth Science, and a new Mobile Launcher are winners in the $20.7 billion just approved for the space program.
The Senate Makes Its Move: Nearly $200M less for NASA in 2018
The proposed $19.5 billion would be less than the agency received in 2017, and substantially less than that proposed by the House for the coming year.
NASA's 2018 budget request is here, and we broke down the details
The White House's 2018 federal budget request includes $19.1 billion for NASA, which is a 3 percent drop from 2017. We broke down the details.
Planetary Science Just Got Its Best Budget in Years
The President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017, funding the U.S. government for the remainder of the fiscal year. NASA got a boost to $19.65 billion, and its Planetary Science Division saw a budget increase to $1.846 billion—its best budget in more than ten years.
Here's our exhaustive guide to Trump's 392-word NASA budget
We break down every sentence from Trump's new NASA budget, so you don't have to.
Blitzing Congress for NASA
Last February, a group called the Space Exploration Alliance held their annual
Congress Delays Action on NASA's 2017 Budget
Congress stands ready to punt on NASA's budget, meaning the space program will have to operate on a short budgetary leash until April of next year.
The House Makes its Counteroffer on NASA's Budget
Commerce, Justice, and Science—the House of Representatives’ subcommittee that oversees NASA spending—just released details on how they would fund the space agency in 2017. Overall, the news for the space program is very good.
The Senate Just Proposed to Slash Planetary Science Funding
The Senate has released its draft of NASA's 2017 budget which, despite increasing NASA's top-line by $300 million, would cut $270 million from the Planetary Science Division. Here's why we shouldn't worry—yet.
Challenges to Enabling a Richer Planetary Exploration Program
This past week brought to the fore two challenges for NASA’s managers as they try to enable the richest possible mix of coming planetary missions. At stake are whether the agency will be able to select two Discovery missions from the current competition, and whether there will be the possibility of a mission selected for Enceladus and/or Titan in the next decade.
NASA's New Budget Would Gut Europa But Otherwise Support Planetary Exploration
It’s clear that the President’s budget officers really don’t want to fund a mission to Europa. Other than that, the proposed Fiscal Year 2017 budget submitted by the President last week to Congress would be great for planetary exploration.
Data Dump: NASA's Planetary Science Program By the Numbers
We provide you the gritty budget breakdown by program and mission for NASA's Planetary Science Division.
First Details of the 2017 NASA Budget Request
There are few surprises in the Obama Administration's final budget proposal for NASA, though some progress is made in critical areas like science funding and NASA's overall funding.
What Does a 'Good' Budget for Planetary Science Look Like?
NASA's 2017 budget request comes out on Tuesday, here's how you can evaluate if the budget for the Planetary Science Division is good or not. It's not just about 2017, but the next five years.
Three Things to Look for in NASA’s Coming Budget Request
The 2017 budget season is almost here. Next week, the White House will release its budget request for NASA. Here are three things I will immediately look for upon its release.
[Updated] An Extraordinary Budget for NASA in 2016
Congress's plan to fund the U.S. government in 2016 includes a stellar $1.3 billion increase for NASA over last year, nearly $730 million above the President's request.
A New Budget Deal and a Best Case NASA Budget for 2016
The promise of a congressional budget deal could free up additional resources for NASA. What would a best case scenario look like, and is it possible within the deal?
President Obama Highlights Planetary Science Triumphs
At the White House Astronomy Night, President Obama highlighted some of the major triumphs of NASA and its planetary science program. Yet his 2016 budget calls for further cuts to the program.
Zero Dollars for 2016: Two Stalwart Planetary Missions Face a Troubling Future
In its 2016 budget request, the White House inexplicably proposed to end two active, scientifically productive planetary missions: the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.