With no top line budget relief, the cost overruns on NASA’s
James Webb Space Telescope weighed heavily on the agency’s planetary science division, sources
said. News of the 20-percent cut was first reported Feb. 8 by
The Washington Post. A spate of news stories about the deep cuts in store for NASA’s popular robotic Mars exploration program followed.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a House Appropriations Committee member
whose Pasadena, Calif., district is home to NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, which specializes in executing planetary missions, issued
the following statement Feb. 9 following a meeting with NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden: "As I told the Administrator during our
meeting, I oppose these ill-considered cuts and I will do everything in
my power to restore the Mars budget and to ensure American leadership in
space exploration."
Meanwhile, late Feb. 9, the White House directed federal agencies,
including NASA and the U.S. Air Force, to cancel embargoed budget
briefings with reporters that had been scheduled for Feb. 10.
Administration sources said the White House did not give agencies a
reason for canceling the briefings.
Budget briefings planned for today (Feb. 13) — many of them to be televised or webcast — are still going forward.
NASA is scheduled to roll out its budget in a televised briefing from
the agency’s headquarters here at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT), the same time
the Air Force is scheduled to brief reporters at the Pentagon on its
2013 spending proposal.
This article was provided by Space News, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
