FY 1998 Budget Request: NASA
The major news in NASA’s fiscal year 1998 budget request is the absence of an anticipated plunge in funding beginning in FY 1998. Instead, the budget request projects what NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin referred to as “stable funding for the next five years.” This funding, Goldin said at NASA’s February 6 budget briefing, “shows the commitment this Administration has to science and technology.”
NASA’s budget request for FY 1998 is $13.5 billion, $0.2 billion (1.5 percent) less than Congress’s FY 1997 appropriation. “Last year, the budget for 1997 was stable, but the outyears [spending projections for later years] were much lower than we expected,” Goldin stated. “I told you then, I hoped we could do better. I am happy to tell you today we have.” The FY 1998 request shows projections of $13.4 billion in FY 1999, and $13.2 billion for the years 2000 through 2002.
Within NASA’s overall budget request, funding for space science and Mission to Planet Earth would increase, while funding for the shuttle, space station, and life and microgravity sciences would decrease. The request for selected NASA programs is shown below:
Program FY 1997 FY 1998 Percent
Description Approp. Request Change
(In millions)
HUMAN SPACE
FLIGHT $5,674.8 $5,326.5 - 6.1
Space Station 2,148.6 2,121.3 - 1.3
US/Russian Cooperation 100.0 ------
Space Shuttle 3,150.9 2,977.8 - 5.5
Payload & Utilization 275.3 227.4 -17.4
SCIENCE, AERO-
NAUTICS & TECH. 5,453.1 5,642.0 + 3.5
Space Science 1,969.3 2,043.8 + 3.8
Life & Microgravity Sciences 243.7 214.2 -12.1
Mission to Planet Earth 1,361.6 1,417.3 + 4.1
Highlights of the request, Goldin said, include unifying, and accelerating, some space science programs under the “Origins” program to “unravel the mystery of what it took to get from the creation of the Universe to life on Earth.” Technology development work continues on a Reusable Launch Vehicle, and the first piece of hardware for the International Space Station is scheduled to be launched in November 1997. When asked about concerns that the Russians have been unable to properly fund their part of the station, Goldin replied that high-level talks were taking place, and he believed there had been no intentional deception by the Russians. Goldin was unsure whether the much-talked-about space summit between the Administration and Congress would take place, noting that the greatest need for a summit, funding stability, “has been met.” See FYI #22 for additional detail on the Space Science and Mission to Planet Earth programs.
