Congress' failure to approve a new annual budget for NASA could force the agency to lay off workers, gut science programs or delay the development of spacecraft to return astronauts to the moon, according to lawmakers and space experts.
The crunch comes because Congress is freezing most 2007 spending at 2006 levels through Sept. 30. NASA's budget will be held at $16.3 billion, more than $520 million short of President Bush's request as part of his vision for exploration of the moon and Mars.
"Congress votes on what size space program they want to buy," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told the agency's workers last week during a question-and-answer session broadcast on NASA TV. " ... And we will remove a half-billion dollars of content to match what they have told us to do.
"We will do what we have to do to get our programs into the budget that we are given," he said.
Griffin stopped short of saying what exactly will be sacrificed, and NASA spokesman David Steitz said the agency is waiting for guidance from lawmakers on 2007 spending and the White House proposal for the 2008 budget.
"It's like planning your family's budget," Steitz said. "Until you have the paycheck in the bank, you can't figure out what bills you're going to pay."
But in an internal NASA memo, posted recently on the independent NASA watchdog Web site nasawatch.com, agency officials warned that the budget freeze could delay development of a manned spacecraft named Orion and its accompanying launch vehicle.
We can't have any delays in exploring the universe. Everyone must write their congressman and Senators to save the space program again. Also, we need to foster young people that space is important, it is the future, and will provide us prosperity for our nation.
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