Mikulski Again Pledges To Fight for $1 Billion NASA Budget Boost

By BRIAN BERGER
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 03 April 2008
12:35 pm ET

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), said she will try again this year to get NASA an extra $1 billion to pay back the agency for what it spent in the aftermath of the 2003 space shuttle Columbia accident.

"Science at NASA saves lives, saves the planet, and creates jobs for the future, so I am puzzled why the President's budget flat-funds NASA science this year and for the next five years. With almost no real growth in NASA's budget, NASA needs more resources to accomplish all of its missions," Mikulski said at the beginning of a hearing about NASA's budget.

Mikulski, who chairs the Senate Appropriations commerce, justice, science subcommittee, has been pushing for the extra money since 2006. Last year she and colleagues succeeded in getting $1 billion in funding money for NASA through the Senate only to see the proposal die during budget negotiations with the U.S. House of Representatives.

She noted that in 1987, Congress allocated $2.7 billion in the aftermath of the Challenger tragedy to pay for a replacement shuttle. By contrast, after the Columbia tragedy, NASA was not given any additional funding to repair the remaining shuttles. Her proposed amendment will pay back the costs of returning the shuttle to flight and restore cuts to science, aeronautics and exploration programs that were cut in order to pay for the return to flight.