Financial Angst
There will be much anxiety leading up to the release of President Obama’s proposed federal budget for the 2013 fiscal year, expected during the 2nd week of February. The budget proposal will suggest how much funding NASA should receive in 2013 and beyond. Over the year, these numbers will be subject to a long and bitter debate process in Congress, which has been looking for ways to slash expenditures in recent years. If 2013 funding is anything like the last couple years, NASA may have to do more and more with less and less.
Of high importance will be the details of funding the James Webb Space Telescope, the next generation space-based scientific instrument set to replace the aging Hubble Space Telescope. Already costing far beyond its initial proposed budget, JWST drew the wrath of members of the House of Representatives, who voted to cancel its funding last year. The final version of the 2012 budget bill eventually included funds for JWST, though it came with the stipulation that NASA take the needed money out of other programs. The president's budget proposal might give some clues as to how this allocation will be made.
NASA officials are also looking to the 2013 budget before making a final decision on how much they can contribute to future Mars missions. The agency currently has a deal with the European Space Agency to conduct two joint missions to the Red Planet –- one in 2016 and another in 2018 -– though the agency’s fiscal problems have made it increasingly unlikely that NASA will be able to honor its commitments. ESA may turn to the Russian space agency to complete both missions, though Russia has had a poor track record thus far with Mars missions.
Shortly after the president’s budget announcement, NASA is expected to hold Senior Review processes to decide whether or not to continue funding many of its current missions. This may be particularly painful in the agency’s Planetary Science division, which is expected to see flat or declining budgets over the next several years. Officials may have to choose between the scientific return on several ongoing missions, including the Cassini spacecraft, Opportunity Mars rover, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Image: The James Webb Space Telescope. NASA.