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WASHINGTON – An Appropriations Bill approved Feb. 15 gives NASA $ 21.5 billion in fiscal 2019, or $ 1.6 billion more than the original request from the administration.
The bill, which combined a number of separate appropriation bills and a set of border security measures, was approved by a large majority in the House and Senate on February 14, with the aim of avoiding a new bill. partial interruption of government. On February 15, President Trump signed the bill, a few hours before the expiry of the current resolution, which was to fund these parts of the government.
The provisions of the NASA Bill were identical to those adopted by the House in January, including the overall level of funding – an increase of $ 1.6 billion from the agency's original request – and the wording of the report. This report retained the strong language that reflected "the deep disappointment" of the James Webb Space Telescope and its latest cost and schedule overruns, and warning that if there were additional problems, "JWST will have to find cost savings or cancel the mission ".
The final bill rejects the proposal to reorganize the accounts used to fund the agency that NASA had included in its budget request a year ago. This proposal was intended to replace space technology and exploration accounts with two systems called Space Exploration Systems and Space Exploration and Technology, thereby modifying some of the technology programs by considering the future of space exploration and technology. the general direction of the agency's space technology mission. The final bill retains existing technology and space exploration accounts.
Space technology received $ 926.9 million in the bill, the report citing "the need to maintain an independent research and technology portfolio to support scientific and human exploration programs." Of this total, $ 180 million will go to Restore-L, a satellite service. The mission also threatened to cancel and $ 100 million for thermal propulsion research, including the planning of a demonstration mission in Montreal. flight by 2024.
NASA's scientific programs have been among the main beneficiaries of the budget increase, receiving just over $ 1 billion more than the original request. Global science alone received more than $ 500 million more than demand, including $ 280 million more for the Europa Clipper mission and $ 195 million for a subsequent landing mission on that moon. Jupiter ice cream not included in the original application. The launch of these missions would slip however from one year until 2023 for Europa Clipper and 2025 for the LG.
The bill also retains funding for the wide-field infrared surveyor telescope (WFIRST), which NASA sought to cancel in its budget request for 2019. The $ 321 million provided is intended to keep the mission on track. way for a launch in the mid-2020s, with a cost cap of $ 3.2 billion.
The budget provides $ 110 million for NASA's education program, since renamed Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The administration had, for the second year in a row, requested no funding for the program in its application, a proposal that faced bipartisan criticism.
The space launch system received $ 2.15 billion and the Orion satellite, $ 1.35 billion, slightly higher than the original request. The report recommended spending at least $ 150 million for the Upper Exploration Stage (EUS) being developed for the SLS version of Block 1B, while work on this upper floor was slowing down. "The development of the European Air Navigation System has been strongly supported to ensure that NASA has sufficient heavy transport capacity to support a regular flow of scientific research and human exploration missions," the report says. , as well as a second mobile launch. platform, to be ready from here 2024.
NASA's lunar planes also performed well, with the lunar gateway, called the orbital lunar platform in the report, receiving $ 450 million, while the advanced surface and surface capabilities program earned $ 116.5 million. of dollars. A low-Earth-orbit marketing initiative, budgeted as part of a proposal to end direct funding for the International Space Station's operations in 2025, has only received 40 Millions of the $ 150 million requested, which will be used for "an badysis of the implementation of the port and other activities to enable future commercial activities at the International Space Station. "
The report also rejects a proposal by NASA to collaborate with other actors in search of "technosignatures," such as radio transmissions or other evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations. The House version of the 2019 spending bill included $ 10 million in astrophysics for NASA "in partnership with the private sector and philanthropic organizations, to the greatest extent possible" on such research. The final bill "does not adopt the language of the House regarding certain work with the private sector or philanthropic organizations".
The overall bill did not include provisions guaranteeing wage arrears to contractors affected by the partial closure of the government for five weeks, including those working for NASA. While civil servants received salary arrears, contractors only received them on a case-by-case basis, many of them not being paid.
"This closure has created hardship for more than one million dedicated and dedicated federal contract workers through no fault of their own," said Robert Martinez Jr., president of Machinists Union International, who represented some of The NASA. In a February 14 statement, he called on Congress to pbad a stand-alone bill restoring this remuneration.
Another provision of the bill protected the property at the SpaceX launch site being developed near Brownsville, Texas, just north of the Mexican border. The wording of the bill prevents the use of funds for the construction of border fences in several areas, including the interior or east of the Vista del Mar ranch of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. where the SpaceX installation is being built. It is feared that any boundary wall built in the area could pbad through the SpaceX property.
"I have worked hard to include this language because it is essential to protect these ecologically sensitive areas and to ensure that local communities can find the solutions that work for them," said Rep. Henry Cuellar. (D-Texas) in a statement. He was on the committee of the conference that drafted the final bill and included these provisions. However, the wording may not apply to funding obtained from other sources, such as those transferred from other agencies as part of a national emergency declaration announced by President Trump on 15 February.
Attention is now turning to the draft budget for fiscal year 2020, whose publication in early February was delayed by the partial closure of the government. Capitol Hill sources are now waiting for the draft budget to be released between early and mid-March.
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