Senate Appropriations Committee Report Language: NASA

The Senate Appropriations Committee on September 16 passed its version of the VA/HUD appropriations bill for FY 2000 (H.R. 2684). Accompanying the bill is the committee report (S. Rpt. 106-161), explaining the committee’s recommendations. This report is not legally binding, but does provide important guidance to the departments and agencies funded under the bill.

Selections from the Senate Appropriations Committee’s VA/HUD report pertaining to NASA are highlighted below. Please note that the full report language is lengthy. In order to fit within the format of FYI, only those programs followed by FYI are included. Much of the language has been omitted, and in the interest of space, paragraphs have been combined. The full committee report may be accessed under Committee Information: Committee Reports at the following Library of Congress site: http://rs9.loc.gov/hom e/thomas.html

The Committee would provide $13,578.4 million for NASA, equal to the President’s FY 2000 request and $68.3 million less than FY 1999 funding. The House version of the VA/HUD bill would provide less total funding for NASA, and less for both Space Science and Earth Science than the Senate Committee, but more for Life and Microgravity Sciences. The Senate Committee’s report states that “The Committee strongly supports NASA’s many activities and programs.... Nevertheless, the Committee continues to be very troubled by cost overruns and unrealistic budgeting by NASA.” Further excerpts from the report are below:

****SPACE SCIENCE****

FUNDING: The committee recommendation for Space Sciences is $2,076.6 million. This is $120.0 million less than the request and $42.6 million less than FY 1999 funding. The House recommended $1,955.8 million.

COMMITTEE CONCERNS: “The Committee supports the Space Science program and recognizes the many contributions this mission has made to our understanding of the universe and the solar system. Nevertheless, the program has been subject to some mixed successes and some outright failures, most recently the WIRE mission. Another issue of concern is the failure of NASA to control cost overruns and program delays in the Chandra program, and the current need to add an additional shuttle repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope at a cost of some $136,000,000 estimated to be incurred during the fiscal years 1999 through 2003 period.”

DATA ANALYSIS: “In addition, the Committee has become concerned that the drive to promote missions has not been balanced with a commensurate investment in the availability and analysis of the data collected under the various science missions, resulting in what has been called data mortuaries. Therefore, the Committee requests the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to assess the usefulness and the availability of the data collected from the Space Science missions, and report to the Committee by June 15, 2000 on the assessment, including recommendations to ensure that space science data is being made available to maximize its usefulness. OSTP and NASA should consider whether a data warehouse or data library should be developed as a way to ensure the availability and use of the space science data.” “The Committee also requests that NASA advise it on how missions are prioritized and whether they are prioritized based on benchmarks associated with the usefulness of the data being collected...”

HUBBLE: “The Committee strongly supports the Hubble Space Telescope as one of the most rewarding missions ever launched by NASA.... While the Committee is very disappointed by the failure of NASA to budget and plan adequately for the current failures in the Hubble’s gyroscope system, the Committee supports both the repair mission and the upgrade mission, both scheduled for fiscal year 2000. The Committee, therefore, includes an additional $26,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 for costs associated with the mission to replace the gyroscopes,...thereby enabling the observatory to keep operating without interruption.”

SPECIFIC PROJECTS: The Committee recommendation includes full funding for SIRTF; an additional $21.0 million for Sun-Earth Connections [SEC]; an additional $3.0 million for development of an electrodynamic tether facility to position satellites; $1.0 million for an astronomical satellite telescope at Western Kentucky University; and $3.0 million in support of a hands-on science center at Huntsville, Alabama.

****EARTH SCIENCE****

FUNDING: The Committee recommends $1,459.1 million, equal to the President’s request and $45.3 million above FY 1999 funding. The House recommended $1,174.1 million.

DATA ANALYSIS: As with Space Science, the Committee “directs NASA and OSTP to assess and report on the rate of collection and use of data...[and] consider whether a data warehouse or data library should be developed...”

POST-EOS STRATEGY: “The Committee believes that NASA and its Office of Earth Science must articulate in the near term a comprehensive, post-EOS agenda that guarantees, through its vision and the commitment of budgetary resources, that NASA will have a robust flight profile and advanced technology strategy to maintain its preeminence in the earth sciences. For this reason, the Committee expects an EOS II strategy by February 1, 2000 that articulates in detail the Agency’s earth science plans through fiscal year 2010.” “The strategy should determine how the Agency intends to capitalize on the $6,600,000,000 investment in the EOS I series of missions.” “The Committee is interested in the development of a more focused applications effort that seeks to utilize fully the investment to date in the EOSDIS Core System (ECS) ground system and its network of distributed archive centers.” “The bill includes $32,000,000 for the [ECS] only, to supplement delivery of a full scale ECS.... The Committee also provides $7,000,000 to develop additional uses for NASA’s earth observing system to make data more readily available for potential user communities. The Committee believes that the long-term utility of NASA’s earth science program lies in identifying additional uses for data obtained by NASA’s EOS program...”

SPECIFIC PROJECTS: The Committee recommends up to $5.0 million for the LightSAR program “to help preserve the usefulness of this technology.” The recommendation also includes $2.0 million for the Advanced Fisheries Management Information System at the University of Massachusetts and Dartmouth University, with a companion program to be developed at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

****LIFE AND MICROGRAVITY SCIENCES AND APPLICATIONS****

The Committee recommends $256.2 million, equal to the request and $7.3 million less than FY 1999 funding. The House recommended $263.2 million. Within this recommendation, the Committee “has provided $2,000,000 for a center on life in extreme thermal environments at Montana State University in Bozeman. It is expected that NASA will include funding for this research as part of the fiscal year 2001 Budget.”

****ACADEMIC PROGRAMS****

The Committee recommends $120.0 million, $20.0 million above the request, for NASA’s education programs, which “span from the elementary through graduate levels, and are directed at students and faculty.” The Committee would provide $36.2 million for minority university research and education activities; $19.1 million for the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program; and $12.0 million for the EPSCoR program, for which it expects NASA to conduct a new solicitation in FY 2000.

****INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION****

FUNDING: The Committee has established separate accounts for the space station and space shuttle activities. For the space station, the Committee would provide $2,482.7 million, equal to the request and $178.0 million greater than FY 1999. The House would provide $2,382.7 million.

COST OVERRUNS: “The Committee continues its strong support of the International Space Station.... Nevertheless...the Committee has established a new funding account for all activities related to the construction of the International Space Station because of continued concerns over cost overruns and unrealistic accounting.... In the past, NASA has responded to the funding needs of the space station by raiding other important NASA programs for any needed funding. While NASA has allowed the space station to overshadow its other programs and activities, the Committee believes these other programs and activities are equally exciting, rewarding, and unique...”

RUSSIA: "...the Committee continues to have substantial concerns regarding the ability of Russia to meet its financial commitment and partnership obligations to the Space Station.” “While the Committee has requested NASA to reduce reliance on Russia to meet the schedule for construction of the Space Station, it does not expect NASA to duplicate every activity which is the responsibility of Russia, even those in the critical path. This is not practical or responsible. The Committee is troubled especially by reports that currently estimate that the cost to protect against Russian nonperformance will be some $1,200,000,000. The Committee, therefore, directs NASA to identify and report to the Congress quarterly on each space station activity that is the responsibility of Russia, its status, the associated cost, and alternative options to ensure the timely completion of the activity per the schedule.”