NASA Facing New Space Science Cuts
A budget battle is shaping up over NASA's space-science efforts.
Alien worlds and the search for extraterrestrial life recently took center stage on Capitol Hill, a break from standard political fare in Washington D.C. (Related: "Future of Spaceflight.")
"The unknown and unexplored areas of space spark human curiosity," he went on, applauding recent discoveries such as the most Earth-like world orbiting a nearby star discovered so far by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.
But the reality is that while the stars and planets beckon, a budget battle is brewing over NASA, the $17.6-billion civilian space agency. Cuts threaten spacecraft and telescopes, even as NASA struggles to clarify its mission in the post-space shuttle era. (Related: "Future of Spaceflight.")
Since the end of the Apollo missions in 1973, the space agency's budget has
