In-depth Look at 2011-2012 NASA Budget Cuts

There is something startling about NASA's allocated budget for the fiscal year of 2012. At first glance, there seems to be nothing strange about the $17.8 billion dollar budget; as with all previous years it is in the double-digit billion range. What is surprising, however, is that the budget is less than that of the previous year. Since 2005, NASA's budget has consistently increased at a rate of 5% to 9%. For the fiscal year of 2012 $17.8 billion was allocated by the federal government, $684 million less than that of the previous year, a decrease of 3.7%. A big chunk of this decrease comes from the halving of Obama's $850 million request for the development of commercial passenger spaceships, with only $406 million allotted. With the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle, the United States has to employ Russia to fly its crew to the International Space Station, at a cost of more than $50 million per person. Now NASA is starting to fund private third-party companies to develop spaceships to use as space taxis for its crews. This will hopefully cut overall costs in the long run, since the cost of running the space shuttle far exceeded the funds NASA is now spending on private contractors.

Link: http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/420990main_FY_201_%20Budget_Overview_1_Feb_2010.pdf

Source: Reuters, Thomson. "NASA Budget: Telescope Saved, Space Taxis Cut - Technology & Science - Space - Msnbc.com." Msnbc.com. Msnbc, 15 Nov. 2011. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45317181/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/nasa-budget-plan-saves-telescope-cuts-space-taxis>.