![]() ![]() These systems are essential because NASA's Orion spacecraft cannot land on the moon astronauts must transfer from Orion to a human landing system that will take them to the surface. Of note for the Artemis Program, through which NASA is seeking to land the first woman and person of color on the moon in 2025, the budget provides $1.5 billion to support the human landing system being developed by SpaceX and to back the development of competitors. Congress hopes to pass the spending bill this week to avoid a partial government shutdown, which will begin Saturday if the bill isn't signed into law. House appropriators have just started hearings on fiscal year 2024 budget proposals from the agencies, but have not yet scheduled one for NASA.The fiscal year 2023 spending bill includes funding for a wide variety of NASA priorities, which range from returning humans to the moon to using satellites to monitor climate change to developing electric planes. They disclosed few details about the plan, including uncertainty about whether defense spending would be included, prompting her to request both scenarios from the agencies. Under that scenario, science would be cut to $6.1 billion but space technology would have only $935 million and space operations $3.3 billion.ĭeLauro requested the spending cut plans from NASA and other federal agencies in January after comments by the new Republican leadership of the House that they would seek to cut spending to fiscal year 2022 letters. The letter contains one notable error: in the scenario with the larger cuts, the letter lists the same amount for the budgets of science, space technology and space operations of $6.1 billion. The document did not state how NASA came with the proposed delays and cancellations or the individual value of each. The ISS deorbit tug and commercial space stations would also be delayed, with at least 1,000 center and contractor personnel laid off. It would delay Mars Sample Return, DAVINCI and Dragonfly and cancel one Earth System Observatory mission, while delaying three others. It would “substantially delay” Artemis 4 and also cancel a procurement for a second Artemis lunar lander. The other scenario, with NASA funding cut to 2022 levels, had less severe effects. The agency estimated that the cuts would require laying off 4,000 center and contractor personnel across the agency’s programs. Other changes would be a reduced number of International Space Station cargo missions and delays for both an ISS deorbit module and development of commercial successors to the station. Up to three missions in the Earth System Observatory program of Earth science missions would be canceled, with delays to the Roman Space Telescope, future astrophysics missions and Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, among others. The cut in science would delay or cancel several missions in development, including Mars Sample Return, the DAVINCI mission to Venus and the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan. That would, NASA stated, “threaten ability to fly Artemis IV and defer lunar exploration beyond Artemis IV.” ![]() That cut, according to documents provided in the letter, would “significantly restructure or terminate” various elements of Artemis 4, including the upgraded version of the Space Launch System and lunar Gateway elements. “To fund NASA at such a level in FY 2024,” Nelson wrote in the letter of the latter scenario, “would have devastating and potentially unrecoverable impacts upon the objectives that the President and Congress have set for NASA, and weaken our Nation’s position as a global leader in exploration, science, technology innovation, and discovery.” NASA estimated in that scenario its budget would be cut by 22% from 2023 levels to about $19.8 billion. ![]() A second scenario proposed exempting defense spending from that cut, requiring deeper reductions for non-defense discretionary agencies. One scenario considered rolling back discretionary spending across the board to fiscal year 2022 levels, which for NASA would mean $24 billion, $1.4 billion less than what NASA received in 2023. DeLauro published the letter this week along with similar letters she requested from other federal agencies. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, Nelson outlined the effects on NASA of two budget-cutting scenarios being considered by House Republican leadership. WASHINGTON - NASA Administrator Bill Nelson claims proposed spending reductions for fiscal year 2024 could have “devastating and potentially unrecoverable” effects on NASA programs, delaying or canceling many missions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |