NASA to Get a 2.4% Budget Increase Without Hubble Robot Funding

[Zhukov]

NASA to Get a 2.4% Budget Increase Without Hubble Robot Funding

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- NASA will get a 2.4 percent increase in its annual budget under President George W. Bush's proposal for the 2006 fiscal year, which doesn't include funding to send a robot to fix the aging Hubble Space Telescope.

The agency's budget for the year starting in October will rise to $16.5 billion from about $16.2 billion, Steve Isakowitz, deputy associate administrator for the exploration systems mission directorate, said during a briefing with reporters at the in Washington. NASA's five-year forecast issued last year called for its appropriation to rise to $17 billion.

Talks over the budget proposal will likely show whether Congress supports Bush's $12 billion plan for the U.S. space program, which calls for human missions to the moon and Mars as stepping stones to further exploration of the solar system, said John Logsdon, director of George Washington University's Space Policy Institute.

"It frames the debate over whether the country acting through the Congress wants to commit to the exploration vision or not,'' Logsdon, a member of the panel that examined the space shuttle Columbia disaster, said in a Feb. 4 telephone interview. "Because that's where the increase is going.''

The proposal comes as Administrator Sean O'Keefe, who has led the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's reorganization in the wake of the Columbia crash two years ago, prepares to leave to become chancellor of Louisiana State University. His successor hasn't been named.

Shuttle's Return

The agency is preparing the shuttle Discovery to return to flight in May, the first time an orbiter has flown since Columbia broke up on its return to Earth on Feb. 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts aboard. NASA has since relied on Russia to take crews and supplies to the International Space Station.

Among the biggest increases in the proposed budget will be for robotics being developed for the exploration of Mars and the moon, climbing 17 percent to $858 million, former comptroller Isakowitz said. It is one of the cornerstones of Bush's space plan.

Spending for space exploration systems will increase to $3.17 billion from $1.78 billion, while the shuttle's budget will climb to $4.53 billion from $4.32 billion. The appropriation for the International Space Station will rise slightly to about $1.86 billion.

"While we continue to spend the same amount of money on space exploration, we'll put more money into the robotics,'' Isakowitz said. "That's growing quite a bit over the remainder of this decade and we'll maintain our investment in the other things that we do. It was true last year and it's true in this year's budget.''

Anyone's Guess

The budget includes no funding to send a robot to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, which is expected fail in two years if its batteries and gyroscopes aren't replaced, Isakowitz said. The orbiting space observatory, which has helped verify the age of the universe and sent back thousands of images since it was launched in 1990, is a "spacecraft that is dying,'' he said.

"It has already lived 14 out of the 15 years that was originally planned,'' Isakowitz said. "How much more it's going to be operating by 2007 is anyone's guess at this point. We're quickly running out of options. That's what has ultimately sunk our efforts robotically.''

O'Keefe, citing safety concerns, last year canceled a planned shuttle servicing mission to fix the telescope, raising the ire of senators, congressmen, scientists and astronomers. NASA will now go forward with plans to take the Hubble out of orbit.

The budget also includes no funding for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter mission, which would send a spacecraft to the moons orbiting the solar system's largest planet to test new propulsion technologies, Isakowitz said.

While NASA is one of just a few government agencies seeing an increase in Bush's budget, it's not clear how things will shake up under review by Congress, Logsdon said.

"The NASA funding last year was done at the last minute late at night as part of the omnibus budget bill,'' he said. "I don't think it reflected the collective opinion of the Congress but rather the power of a few individuals. And when it's all done in the light of the day, I don't know what will happen.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aP34Mpy9BQGk&refer=us

 

[theim]

I just wanna see NASA perform. Remember that Genesis probe? It cost a shitload of money. It was sent out to collect data on Solar Wind and would supposedly help unlock secrets as to the formation of the solar system. But on re-entry it's chute never opened because some genius screwed on a part ASS BACKWARDS. And that wasn't the first time stuff like that happened. So yeah, no more of that please.

 

[onedomino]

I just wanna see NASA perform. Remember that Genesis probe? It cost a shitload of money. It was sent out to collect data on Solar Wind and would supposedly help unlock secrets as to the formation of the solar system. But on re-entry it's chute never opened because some genius screwed on a part ASS BACKWARDS. And that wasn't the first time stuff like that happened. So yeah, no more of that please.

They were able to salvage some of the material collected by the probe. It is currently being analyzed.

 

[no1tovote4]

We still get good information from the Hubble Space Telescope. I don't understand why we should end such a successful project in order to focus on what has not yet been a success. At least sell the 'scope to a private company or a non-profit rather than just burning it up...

Take your success and flush it for future projects the success of which is not determined? It is frustrating. Some of those pictures keep the imagination of the youth on such research, and those are the people that will make future policy for such funding. Don't take away a successful tool to remind people of the frontier we have not yet conquered.

 

[NATO AIR]

We still get good information from the Hubble Space Telescope. I don't understand why we should end such a successful project in order to focus on what has not yet been a success. At least sell the 'scope to a private company or a non-profit rather than just burning it up...

Take your success and flush it for future projects the success of which is not determined? It is frustrating. Some of those pictures keep the imagination of the youth on such research, and those are the people that will make future policy for such funding. Don't take away a successful tool to remind people of the frontier we have not yet conquered.

what he said.

IMHO, perhaps some rich donors could be found to privately fund the repair to the hubble.

 

[dilloduck]

I'm still a fence sitter on NASA. While advancements in the technology has provided much to our civilization, some missions seem to be a huge waste on what are basically fishing expeditions. I would like to see NASA come out with a new mission statement that clearly delineates it's ultimate goals. Are we looking for a new place to live if Earth becomes uninhabitable for humans?

 

[NATO AIR]

more importantly, why aren't we exploring our oceans more? call me a seaquest geek but i feel an uncharted frontier is down there...

 

[CSM]

more importantly, why aren't we exploring our oceans more? call me a seaquest geek but i feel an uncharted frontier is down there...

The EPA, Greenpeace, PETA, international disputes regarding coastal waters...

there are lots of reasons why the oceans are off limits to anything but tokenism. Space is the same way...most folks are just not interested.

 

[NATO AIR]

The EPA, Greenpeace, PETA, international disputes regarding coastal waters...

there are lots of reasons why the oceans are off limits to anything but tokenism. Space is the same way...most folks are just not interested.

great point