NASA Budget Links

I have to say that I'm quite surprised by this budget. Ares I cancellation was expected, but I never expected Orion to be canceled. After the Augustine Report came out, I had thought heavy lift would be kept on life support only, but recently it had seemed like heavy lift development was going to be accelerated as an alternative to Ares I. So, I'm surprised heavy lift is going back to research only.

I'm concerned about what's going to happen with the money being spent on Constellation this year. I hope it doesn't end up being totally wasted.

Shuttle extension is also dead. Even converting the last launch on need mission to STS-135 looks like it's off the table. After the Augustine Report came out I had been pretty sure there would be some kind of shuttle extension, though as the months have gone by that had been getting increasingly unlikely.

I'm a supporter of going commercial, but the budget allocations for commercial crew and cargo are minimal, peaking at $1.4 billion in 2012 and 2013.

I'm glad to see unmanned missions getting a bit of a boost. I've also been in favor of more research on technologies like on-orbit refueling, which is getting funded, so that's good. I did notice inflatable modules in the list of flagship demonstration programs, so maybe Bigelow is going to get some extra funding for their efforts.

In the OMB budget details, there's something interesting. On the last page, if you look at the discretionary budget authority, that increases in 2009-2011 from $17.782 billion to $18.724 billion to $19.000 billion. However, total outlays decrease from $19.131 billion to $18.333 billion to $17.680 billion. Also, stimulus outlays peak this year at $790 million, increasing from $37 million last year and declining to $183 million next year.

I assume that there would be a time delay before contracts entered into under increased budget authority translate into actual outlays. Still, it looks like actual spending is set to decrease in the short run, if I'm reading this right.

I have mixed feelings about this budget. While I want to see a move towards more commercialization of spaceflight, this budget seems to set up a hard transition rather than a more graceful handover. I am totally in favor of better utilizing the ISS, but I'm not sure the hardware will be there to support that. Funding for commercial spaceflight seems inadequate to provide needed capabilities, though cost savings could help.

I guess the rest is up to Congress now.

@Patrick:

It does look like outlays are set to decrease in 2011. I could be wrong, but I believe Recovery Act money is supplemental to the outlays. That would hold total outlays essentially flat between 2009 and 2010, but there would be a decrease in 2011. I assume the increased budget authority will show up as increased outlays in the future.

2009 outlays were well in excess of budget authority. That must be due to contracts entered into under budget authority from previous years. Recovery Act spending illustrates the time delay, with all the authority in 2009, but almost all the outlays in 2010 and 2011.

I assume that eventually outlays will increase, but not until 2012 or 2013. Still, 2011 is looking like a lean year for NASA.