President's budget request for fiscal 2013 would allocate a total of $17.7 billion to NASA, which is a 2.24 percent decrease from the fiscal 2012 estimated amount when accounting for inflation.

According to the budget, NASA streamlining initiatives will also lead to an administrative cost avoidance of more than $200 million in fiscal 2013. Efficiencies will be found in "travel, printing, information technology devices, and support contracts," says the budget request.

Under the proposed budget, the Science appropriation would be $4.9 billion, or 5.07 percent less than the fiscal 2012 estimated amount when accounting for inflation, and fund the Earth Science, Planetary Science, Heliophysics, the James Webb Space Telescope and Astrophysics programs.

"Following a thorough management and technical review, the budget funds the James Webb Space Telescope...to enable a launch later this decade," says the request.

The beleaguered James Webb Space Telescope, a large, infrared-optimized space telescope that will replace the Hubble Space Telescope, has extended cost and schedule milestones. According to a NASA official who testified before Congress in December 2011, the program is now back on track and will launch by its revised target date in 2018.

The fiscal 2013 budget request contains the same language found in the 2012 request: A requirement that the program's overall development cost be capped at $8 billion--$3.6 billion more than the program's initial cost estimate.

The Obama administration would give Space Technology funding a bump in fiscal 2013, funding the division $699 million--a real increase of 25.11 percent from the fiscal 2012 estimate of $548 million. The appropriation would fund all activity under the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist, which includes research and development in space technologies that support the broad civilian space community.

Funds for Exploration would also see a real increase of 3.76 percent, with an appropriation of $3.93 billion in fiscal 2013. This budget line funds the development of systems and capabilities required for human exploration of space beyond low Earth orbit, and access to the International Space Station.

Funds for NASA's Education programs would see a steep cut in fiscal 2013 under the president's proposal. Education would be funded $100 million, a 27.88 percent decrease from the fiscal 2012 estimated amount when accounting for inflation. Budget tightening in this area could impact programs that encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM.

The budget document says NASA will continue to "engage Americans in NASA's mission by building strategic partnerships and linkages between STEM formal and informal education providers, and engage and support the STEM education community." However, the budget shows grants subsidies and contributions would receive $73 million under the fiscal 2013 request, compared to an estimated $122 million in fiscal 2012 a 41.31 percent real decrease. 

According to the president's budget request NASA's working capital fund would be authorized to $426 million in discretionary spending, with $403 million of that coming from offsetting collections-a 23.25 percent increase from fiscal 2012's estimated offsetting collections. In all the budget request predicts NASA will collect $393 million from federal sources and $10 million from non-federal sources in fiscal 2013 for three programs' activities:

• Scientific and engineering workstation procurement through the Solutions for Enterprise-wide Procurement program;
• IT Infrastructure Integration Program, which includes Tier 1 service desk and ordering, web services and technologies, enterprise business and management applications, integrated network/communications services, end user services, and data center services; and
• The NASA Shared Services Center, which handles financial management, human resources, information technology, and procurement services for NASA divisions.

For more:
- download the NASA budget appendix (.pdf)

Related Articles:
NASA looks for small satellite swarming technology
NASA looks to lower open source licensing barriers
Q&A: NASA's Sean Herron and William Eshagh on code.nasa.gov

-->BACK TO MAIN BUDGET PAGE