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Small BodiesStories, updates, insights, and original analysis from The Planetary Society.
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.
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.