President Barack Obama has requested an $18.7 billion fiscal-year 2010 budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a 5 percent increase above the current year’s funding.
“This is a fairly robust budget,” acting NASA Administrator Christopher Scolese said Thursday. “This will allow us to accomplish a lot of goals and activities.”
The White House also has ordered an independent blue-ribbon review of NASA’s human-spaceflight plans, headed by former Lockheed Martin chief executive Norman Augustine.
Scolese said the review, which will be “quick, detailed and thorough,” should be completed by August.
Earth-science programs, which include global climate-change research, received Obama’s expected big boost — $900 million for fiscal years 2010 through 2013.
The overall budget also supports completion of the international space station next year and retirement of the space-shuttle fleet in September 2010 after finishing eight more missions, including Monday’s launch of the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.
Of about $4 billion budgeted for exploration systems, all but $500 million is allotted to the Constellation program, which aims to take Americans back to the moon.
Constellation includes the Orion crew vehicle. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, based in Jefferson County, won a $3.9 billion contract in 2007 to design and build Orion. About 450 people are working in Colorado on the project.
In a statement, Lockheed officials said they were “encouraged” by Obama’s proposal, saying, “It is vital that our country has a robust space program and maintains its leadership role in space.”
However, the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs called the budget “disappointingly business as usual.”
Aeronautics research, such as increasing aviation safety and fuel efficiency while making improvements in the air-traffic-control system, also receives an increase. Under Obama’s plan, it would grow from $500 million this year to $536 million in 2014.
Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com
