Budget Cuts Loom

Budget crunch may dim vision for NASA, Houston Chronicle

“Hutchison said her biggest concern is that Griffin will have to slash scientific research to keep the agency on course to complete construction of the international space station, retire the shuttle fleet and develop new spacecraft to return to the moon. “The core focus, I think, is correct,” Hutchison said. “The (new spacecraft), getting that up and running, and the shuttle, getting the space station finished so that we can retire the shuttles. That is the right priority because it’s a safety issue for the astronauts. “But when we have this cut, he’s got to find the places that are on the margins, and I fear he’s going to be looking at things like scientific research.”

Budget bungle costs NASA half a billion dollars, New Scientist

“According to NASAwatch.com, Doug McCuistion, head of NASA’s Mars programme, said this week that his project’s reserves will dip from 5% to 2% because of the budget difficulties. They have also had to do some budget shuffling to avoid mission delays he says, in particular keeping the 2011 Mars Scout on schedule.”