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Washington (AFP) Feb 4, 2008 President George W. Bush Monday set out a modest 2.9 percent rise in funding for the US space agency, just as NASA is racing to finish the International Space Station in 2010. The funds were contained in Bush's proposed 3.1 trillion dollar budget for the fiscal year 2009, which earmarked a total 17.61 billion dollars for National Aeronautics and Space Administration projects in the coming year. That compares to the US space agency's 17.11 billion dollar budget for the year to September 2008, and adjusted for inflation, which is running at 4.1 percent, it represents a net cut in funds. NASA, which is due to mark its 50th anniversary on October 1, 2008, expressed confidence the new allocation would not severely affect efforts to finish the ISS. "The FY 2009 budget does not make any strategic changes in direction for our human spaceflight efforts to complete assembly of the International Space Station before embarking on new journeys to our moon and worlds beyond with our international partners," NASA deputy administrator Shana Dale told reporters. The 2009 budget includes 2.1 billion dollars for ISS construction operations and 3.0 billion dollars for running the fleet of three space shuttles, which have a tight schedule of missions to help complete ISS construction before they are retired, slated for October 1, 2010. In the budget NASA has also asked Congress for three billion dollars for the Orion Crew Exploration project and its Ares launch system, aimed at putting Americans back on the Moon in 2020 to set up a permanent lunar outpost for eventually supporting manned missions to Mars. NASA is also budgeting 2.6 billion dollars to contract space services from others, especially Russia, in the 2010-2014 interim when the shuttle fleet has been retired and the Orion program is being readied. But overall space operations are seeing budget cuts, to 5.77 billion in 2009 from 6.73 billion in 2008. The budget allocates just 4.41 billion dollars for research and scientific missions in 2009, compared with 5.5 billion in 2008. That includes a 105 million dollar budget for a program of robot missions to the moon, and 1.3 billion for continued exploration of Mars and other planets in the solar system. But NASA said that some of the apparent cuts reflected a regrouping of budget funds into different categories in 2009. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
NASA Unveils New Budget Request For 2009
Washington DC (SPX) Feb 04, 2008NASA announced a $17.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2009 to continue exploring the solar system, building the International Space Station, studying Earth from space and conducting aeronautics research. NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale said the increase for NASA's 2009 budget demonstrates President Bush's commitment to the agency's missions. With the increase, NASA still accounts for less than 1 percent of the federal budget.
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