Space Travel
12, Feb, 2012

NASA Chief Puts Human Spaceflight Above Science
Written by spacetravel.org   
Sunday, 19 February 2006 23:00
NASA chief Mike Griffin has told a US Congressional Commission that human spaceflight is NASA’s top priority and must take precedence over science in the agency’s budget. NASA’s $16.8 billion budget includes $5.3 billion for science in 2007 but calls for $3.1 billion in cuts to science programmes by 2010. The cuts were made to fund $3 billion to $5 billion in cost overruns to fly the space shuttles until 2010, when they will be retired.

The cuts will delay several key science missions indefinitely, including the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), a mission to detect and study Earth-like planets, Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a mission to search for gravitational waves, and Constellation-X, a mission to study black holes.

Science committee chairman Sherwood Boehlert said that the budget “ basically cuts or de-emphasises every forward-looking, truly futuristic programme.” However, Griffin says that NASA’s human spaceflight program deserves priority becasue it defines the US as a world "superpower

Budget negotiations are expected to take several months.

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