NASA's FY 2015 Budget Request: Good Ideas with Limited Resources

The White House released its budget request for NASA earlier in the week.  The good news is that NASA has a lot of good projects on the drawing board.  The bad news is that this country does not have the money or will power to adequately fund future space projects.  The White House asked for $17.5 billion for NASA in FY 2015, a drop from $17.6.  And while this does not sound like much, it is a much larger cut if you assume any level of inflation since the space agency again has to do more (or at least the same work) with less money. 

But let's look at the proposed projects listed in NASA's budget:

•  Supports the 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope;
•  Continues formulation and development of Mars Rover 2020 and MOMA/ExoMars missions to Mars;
• Continues development of the robotic OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve and return samples from an asteroid;
• Continues pre-formulation work for a potential mission to Jupiter’s moon, Europa. 
• Extends operation of the International Space Station (ISS) to at least 2024, and sustains delivery of cargo to the ISSwith U.S. developed, commercially procured space transportation elements;
• Maintains development of Space Launch System/Orion on track to send astronauts on deep space exploration missions; and
• Funds 7 launches over 24 months: Deep Space Atomic Clock (precise navigation); Green Propellant (higher-performing alternative to toxic hydrazine); Sunjammer Solar Sail (propellant-free propulsion); and four small spacecraft demos.

NASA also made a video explaining this budget, which is an interesting approach to the dry workings of budget policy. 

This is a promising list of projects.  Exploration of Europa is exciting, and one can argue that a lot of this work can still contribute to a manned space mission to Mars at some point in the future.  In fact, the budget PowerPoint notes that this budget "Aligns NASA’s activities to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s."

NASA's Administrator Charles Bolden expanded on this in his press release, stating:

In the coming year, we'll build on our nation's record of breathtaking and compelling scientific discoveries and achievements in space, with science missions that will reach far into our solar system, reveal unknown aspects of our universe and provide critical knowledge about our home planet.  It includes funding for missions to Mars and the formulation for a mission to Jupiter's moon, Europa. It also funds science missions already heading toward destinations such as Jupiter and Pluto and operating throughout the solar system, a mission to study our planet's magnetic system, and steady progress on the James Webb Space Telescope.

Could NASA use more funds for more extensive exploration?  Absolutely, but that is not in the cards with this Congress and in this economy.  And combined projects with other nations, such as China and now Russia, may be difficult to establish given the political situation.  That said, maybe now is a time to out-Putin Putin with a bold new mission in space?  This budget came too late for such vision, but I am hopeful. 

Bottom Image Credit:  The Washington Post.

Space Quotes: President Kennedy

We have learned more about President Kennedy now that we have greater access to his secret tapings from the Oval Office.  One quote in particular recently noted in a New York Times article caught my eye:

In a meeting in November 1962, the president bluntly told James Webb, the NASA administrator, that putting a man on the moon was his top priority. Mr. Webb said it was more important to understand the environment of space, prompting Mr. Kennedy to say, “If we get second to the Moon, it’s nice, but it’s like being second anytime.” 

Mr. Webb continued to push back, prompting the president to spell it out: “I’m not that interested in space,” he said, only in beating the Russians. 

As I have noted here earlier, the arms race was the controlling issue in the 1960s.  This only confirms it further.  Maybe we need to start considering how we can beat the Chinese or at least ensure they do not eventually beat us at our own game.