Scientific and political circles are abuzz about the news, reported in the Washington Post, that President Barack Obama's upcoming budget for NASA will make deep cuts in Mars and planetary exploration.
What are the cuts and the probable effects?
The planetary science account at NASA will be slashed from $1.5 billion this year to $1.2 billion the following year with further cuts to come through fiscal year 2017. This would mean a NASA partnership with the European Space Agency to send high profile probes to Mars in 2016 and 2018 would be terminated. A probe to explore Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, has also been placed in doubt.
Why are the cuts taking place?
Obama administration policy is to maintain flat or declining budgets for NASA for the foreseeable future. With high profile programs such as the Orion Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle, the heavy lift Space Launch System, the commercial crew program, and the over budget James Webb Space Telescope taking up money, something had to give. The Mars Science Laboratory, now on its way to the Red Planet, also suffered cost overruns.
How is the scientific community taking the news?
Edward Weiler, who until September was the NASA associate administrator for science, decried the cuts, claiming he resigned over protest over the impending cuts, according to MSNBC. But as NASA Watch suggests, Weiler has been criticized for his inability to control costs of the Webb telescope, one of the contributing factors of the budget cuts for planetary science.
Jim Bell, a planetary scientist at Arizona State University and president of the Planetary Society, while acknowledging budget problems in some high-profile space science projects, decried what he felt was an "inequitable" distribution of budget cuts. The cuts should be imposed across the board, he stated.
What about Congress?
Rep, John Culberson, R-Texas, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., have expressed opposition to the budget cuts in planetary science. Culberson and Schiff sit on the appropriations subcommittee that handles NASA spending.
What about President Obama?
Obama has not publicly commented on the proposed budget cuts. But during a high-profile speech made at the Kennedy Space Center on April 15, 2010, Obama stated a human mission to Mars as a long term goal for NASA and said that he expected to live to see it.
The Fallout
The Europeans are already holding conversations with the Russians to try to fill the funding gap left by the American pullout. In the meantime, according to NASA Watch, a press briefing at NASA headquarters on the budget has been canceled on orders from the White House.
Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.
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