Conference Report Language on NASA: R&D, Space Science, Misc.

On October 1, members of the House-Senate conference reached agreement on H.R. 2491, the VA, HUD, Independent Agencies Appropriations bill for fiscal year 1994. This FYI and the previous one provide details on the NASA portion of the conference report (103-273). However, this is not the last word on the subject: On October 6, when the conference report was brought to the House floor for a vote, it was rejected by a vote of 305-123 and sent back to conference because it did not terminate ASRM (see FYI #134 for more details.) This ran against the wishes of the House, which on June 29 had voted in their version of the bill to end the ASRM program.

Selected details of the funding for R&D, space science, and other areas of interest, according to the conference report, are provided below.

The conference report provides $7,509,300,000 for research and development, in effect splitting the difference between the House’s mark of $7,475,400,000 and the Senate’s mark of $7,544,400,000.

The conferees modified, but agreed to, a Senate provision to provide only $1,000,000 for the High Resolution Microwave Survey (or SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), to be used only for termination costs.

The conference report includes numerous other changes to the budget request, including the following:

-$3,100,000 from Earth Observing System research operations support.

+$7,000,000 for the Earth Observing System Data Information System (EOSDIS) for programmatic reserves.

-$2,000,000 from the Earth Observing System “A” platform.

+$50,000,000 for space capability development space lab and payload operations for joint U.S./Russian activities.

+$50,000,000 for the Office of Space Science for joint U.S./Russian science missions.

-$19,000,000 from the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF-S). “The conferees direct NASA to use the remaining $16,900,000 to fly the principal AXAF/S instrument on the ASTRO-E satellite.”

+$22,500,000 for physics and astronomy and planetary science mission operations and data analysis “with a high priority afforded the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission.”

+$64,300,000 for the Discovery program. “These funds will provide $66,200,000 each in fiscal year 1994 for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) and Mars Environmental Survey Pathfinder (MESUR) programs.”

-$13,000,000 from the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).

+$15,000,000 for the flight and ground-based NASA/NIH protocol for microgravity science.

-$80,000,000 from the National Aerospace Plane. “Recognizing the goal of single-stage-to-orbit capability, the conferees urge that NASA examine carefully the importance of proceeding with the NASP project, and if it believes NASP can contribute significantly to meeting this goal, propose a reprogramming of funds to ensure the proper NASA role in the joint NASA/Department of Defense NASP program.”

+$1,000,000 for an assessment of whether a National Institute of Aeronautics should be established within NASA.

+$1,000,000 for an assessment of whether a National Institute of Space Science should be established within NASA.

-$24,000,000 from the Mars Observer program. “The conferees are disappointed in the recent loss of the Mars Observer. A total of $10,200,000 has been included for a possible 1995 or 1996 reflight of the Mars mission. Based on an early review of comparative costs, it appears that a reflight of existing Mars Observer instruments would represent achieving the most science at the lowest cost--particularly when launch requirements are included.”

-$500,000 from Mars Observer operations.

“The conferees support the recommendation carried in the Senate report (103-137) to rconvene the Augustine Commission panel to update its findings in light of new budget realities and to evaluate how successfully NASA has implemented its recommendations.”

It should be noted that when the final conference report is approved by both chambers, on any areas on which it remains mute, the relevant language in the House or Senate version remains in effect. Thus, if the approved conference report contains no words on the “Reinventing of NASA,” that section of the Senate report remains valid (see FYI #120 for the Senate language.)