NASA goes deep

The agency's new long-term space exploration program starts with a return to the moon and will ultimately enable future exploration of Mars and other solar system destinations.

In early April, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Sean O'Keefe testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and the Space Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation regarding NASA's FY 2005 budget request. The occasion provided the first initial glimpse of how President Bush's vision for U.S. space exploration will be implemented by the agency. Input from members of Congress and others, as well as the findings of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, have emphasized the importance of setting clear, long-term goals for the nation's human space flight program, with the deliberations forming the basis for the President's FY 2005 budget request for NASA, said O'Keefe.

The FY 2005 NASA budget request is a little over $16.2 billion, a 5.6% increase over FY 2004, with approximately 5% growth per year over the following two years and about 1% for each of the following two years. The budget strategy supporting the vision for sustainable exploration will not require large balloon payments by future Congresses and Administrations, said O'Keefe. Unlike previous major civil space initiatives, this approach is intentionally flexible, with investments in sustainable exploration approaches to maintain affordability. After FY 2009, budgeters project that the exploration vision can be implemented within a NASA budget that keeps pace with inflation.