Posted on 02/03/2004 3:50:10 PM PST by vannrox
NASA's fiscal year 2005 budget spells out the agency's strategy for reprogramming $11.6 billion in funding over the next five years to support its new space exploration program.
Before the loss of the shuttle Columbia, NASA planned to spend roughly $86 billion total over the five-year period starting in 2005. The FY '05 budget proposes redirecting approximately $11.6 billion of that funding, as well as adding $1 billion, to implement the president's space exploration goals (DAILY, Jan. 15).
About $5.9 billion will be shifted from the agency's Space Launch Initiative (SLI), which includes efforts such as the Orbital Space Plane (OSP) and the Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT) program, from FY '05 through FY '09. OSP contractors Lockheed Martin and Boeing already have been ordered to turn their attention to the agency's proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), which is scheduled to have its first test flight by the end of the decade (DAILY, Jan. 16).
NASA also plans to divert $1.5 billion from the space shuttle program to its exploration effort over the next five years. The shuttle is scheduled for retirement in 2010, immediately after completing construction of the International Space Station (ISS). Twenty-five to 30 shuttle flights will be required to complete the ISS.
NASA plans to save $1.2 billion from the space station's research budget through FY '09 by cutting research that does not directly support the president's new space vision, according to NASA. ISS research is being redirected to focus on the long-term effects of the space environment on human physiology.
The remaining reprogrammed funds include $2.7 billion to be saved by delaying the launch of various Earth science and space science missions, with most slipping a year or two. NASA also plans to cut $300 million in space technology development efforts.
"Achieving this new vision for space exploration will not be easy," say budget documents released Feb. 2. "It will require a commitment to a focused and responsible multiyear budget, starting in 2005."
Exploration Systems
NASA's topline budget request for fiscal year 2005 is roughly $16.2 billion, up from $15.4 billion in FY '04. The agency's Earth science budget is being cut from $1.613 billion in FY '04 to $1.485 billion in FY '05. The agency's education budget also is being reduced, from $226 million in FY '04 down to $169 million.
The FY '05 budget includes $1.852 billion for Exploration Systems, which includes work under three themes: Lunar Exploration, Human and Robotic Technology, and Transportation Systems.
Lunar Exploration will define the requirements for a planetary surface exploration architecture to be tested on the moon. In 2009, NASA plans to begin launching robotic missions to better characterize the moon's surface and resources in anticipation of a human landing by 2020.
Human and Robotic Technology will develop technologies that can be integrated into lunar exploration missions and applied to other NASA enterprises, according to budget documents. Transportation systems will provide crew transfer systems to support missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond, including the CEV.
We're doing robotics already. This will increase rapidly. The space race will be a robotics race, and robotics is all programming. Advantage: USA. Let's keep it that way.
Looks like I should update my resume. Between these cuts and eliminating the UV planetary sounding rockets, one can't be too careful...
MD
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