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Projects: S.O.S: Save Our Science!

Our message is being heard

May 25, 2007

In April, we took our Save Our Science campaign to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. The subcommittee, which deals with the NASA budget, invited me to testify as an outside witness on NASA's funding.

Our message is being heard. Four members of the subcommittee attended the hearing -- a marked increase over the usual one or two members who show up for such hearings. Representative John Culberson (R-TX) was there to reiterate his support for our proposal for a Europa exploration mission. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), whose district encompasses the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was also present, as were Subcommittee Chair Alan Mollohan (D-WV) and Ranking Minority member Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (R-NJ). They all spoke in favor of restoring some of the funds that had been cut from NASA's science budget.

In early April, Representative Mollohan joined his Senate counterpart, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), in a letter to NASA disagreeing with the agency's proposed operating plan for the remainder of 2007. They did not cite the previous science reductions but focused on new cuts that eliminate the lunar robotic program, which now will end after next year's launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The administration's Vision for Space Exploration called for a series of robotic missions to prepare the way for human return to the Moon around 2020. Because Congress passed the 2007 budget at 2006 levels, NASA was forced to eliminate about $500 million in programs, among them the robotic lunar landers.

In The Planetary Society's statement to Congress we emphasize the contradictions between the Vision for Space Exploration as a guideline and its current implementation. Mars missions were eliminated, outer planets exploration was eliminated, the search for extrasolar planets was eliminated, and now the robotic lunar program is gone. The Vision may be in danger of becoming a rocket program with no destination.

We are interested in your comments. You can write to me with your thoughts at worldwatch@planetary.org.