PEN Website: http://planetarynews.org Editor: Mark V. Sykes Co-Editors: Melissa Lane, Susan Benecchi Email: pen_editor at psi.edu

SPECIAL REPORT AND ANALYSIS: NASA OPERATING PLAN FOR FY2013 TO TARGET PLANETARY OVERALL, CUTS RESEARCH AND COMPETED MISSIONS

CALL TO ACTION: CONGRESSIONAL HELP IS NEEDED, AND CALL NASA TO TASK

Mark V. Sykes Planetary Science Institute

In his FY13 budget request, President Obama proposed the NASA Planetary budget be cut by more than 20% from its FY12 level (From $1.5B to less than $1.2B). Under the initial Continuing Resolutions covering the first half of the fiscal year, the Administration chose to operate NASA Planetary at this reduced level. Congress restored more than $222M of the President's cut in its FY13 appropriation passed on March 21 and signed into law by the President. Congress's action is now being reversed by NASA and others in the Administration through the preferential application of rescission and sequestration cuts of more than 15% to the NASA Planetary Science budget.

When Congress allocated additional funds, it also specified how they were to be spent in support of Planetary Science Research, Discovery, New Frontiers, Mars Exploration (including MAVEN, MSL, and other Mars activities including a future mission), and Outer Planets (including studies in support of a future Europa mission). Under section 505 of the law, no project can be eliminated or changed by more than 10%, unless House and Senate Committees on Appropriations are notified 15 days in advance. That means that if NASA decides the political consequences are minimal, it can pretty much do what it wants as long as notice is given - and that is what is happening.

After removing essentially all of funds added by Congress to Planetary Science, NASA and and others in the Administration have further chosen to reallocate significant funds from present planetary research and Discovery budgets to pay for new studies in support of a future Europa mission. The next Discovery call will certainly be delayed. The impact to research programs will be severe - further reduced selection rates can be anticipated. Might existing awards be retroactively reduced? Damage is made worse by the fact that these cuts are being implemented in the final months of the fiscal year.

Congress does not compel this action. This is a policy choice of NASA and others in the Obama Administration.

The Operating Plan has yet to be submitted to Congressional Committees on Appropriations. It was due on May 10th. I have obtained detailed information on its content from several source documents that collectively reveal a fairly stable state of development with very small tweaks in recent weeks.

A summary of the Operating Plan and its effects are given in the table below. Each row corresponds to a budget line given in the FY13 budget bill passed by Congress on March 21. Lunar Quest and Technology were not specifically called out (hence the brackets).

See the original post here:

NASA Operating Plan for FY 2013 to Target Planetary Overall, Cuts Research and Completed Missions