National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

The President has requested $13.5 billion for NASA in FY 1999 of which AAAS estimates $9.5 billion would go for R&D, a 2.6 percent decrease from FY 1998, when NASA received a AAAS-estimated R&D budget of $9.8 billion (up 5.3 percent from FY 1997) within a total budget of $13.6 billion. Over $200 million of the FY 1998 increase will cover cost overruns on the development phase of the Space Station, for a total of $2.4 billion. Aeronautics and Space Technology gained 11.3 percent to $1.5 billion in FY 1998 for development of new launch vehicles. NASA's Mission to Planet Earth received a slight increase to $1.42 billion, which includes a growing focus on understanding global climate change.

Soaring space station costs may force NASA managers to cut back science programs, although many in Congress are likely to counter such an approach. At lower elevations, NASA is expanding its role in aviation safety, dedicating R&D funds to help reduce aircraft accidents.

Champions and Players

House Science Committee Chairman Sensenbrenner chaired the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics during the 104th Congress and is an ardent supporter of space commercialization legislation. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), former Chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, is currently the Chair of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics and has consistently opposed the Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) program. On the minority side, Representative George Brown (D-CA) remains the Science Committee's Ranking Member, which assures a strong voice for the importance of federal investment in basic and applied research.

Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Ranking Member of the VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, remains the strongest voice for NASA and the Goddard Space Flight Center, which is the center for all earth-science programs, including MTPE.

Supporting Arguments

Well-balanced and vigorous civil aeronautics and space programs are critical for advancing science and technology and for improving economic competitiveness. Investments in civil aerospace R&D help to maintain our scientific, political and economic leadership in the modern world. Support for basic scientific research has stretched the vistas of imagination, expanding our knowledge of the solar system and the universe -- answering questions and creating new ones. Support for Earth Science programs has allowed us to turn our focus inward to improve the understanding of our own planet, its processes and its systems.

The federal government's investment in long-term, high-risk, technology development and demonstration have paved the way for advancements in commercial aviation and satellite communications, and catalyzed industry products for a large, waiting market. Since its creation, NASA programs have symbolized U.S. preeminence in aerospace, setting the stage for international cooperation and the peaceful use of outer space.

Revised for 1998 by Nadine Cavender, ESA

Posted: February 12, 1998