Planetary Society Urges Congress to Endorse NASA Budget

The Planetary Society today issued a statement supporting the budget increase for NASA and the Administration's proposal to involve the commercial industry in human space flight. After reviewing the budget, we believe the new plan encouraging government, private, and international partnerships will allow humans to go back to and beyond the Moon faster and more realistically. We also were heartened by the strong support to Earth and space science in the new budget, including the authorization to re-fly the Orbiting Carbon Observatory and the full funding of the robotic Mars program. We will be calling on Members of The Planetary Society to urge Congress to support and appropriate the necessary funds for the new plan.

There is great deal of information (and misinformation) as well as political posturing going on with the announcement of the NASA budget and the new plans for human space flight. Members of The Planetary Society might like to watch the NASA Administrator's presentation at the National Press Club in Washington DC, live on NASA TV tomorrow, February 2, at 10 am Eastern Time. NASA TV is available online at nasa.gov/ntv and is carried on some cable services as well as on DirecTV and Dish.

Read The Planetary Society's full statement.