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An Assessment of Balance in NASA's Science Programs (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Summary
Pages 1-4

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From page 1...
... The impact on the SMD program is most dramatically illustrated when one compares the rate of growth that had guided science program planning in 2004 compared to the present. The total funding available for SMD programs in 2007-2011 is to be reduced by $3.1 billion below program projections that accompanied the FY 2006 budget (corresponding to a reduction of about 10 percent for the period FY 2006-2010)
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From page 2...
... The proposed SMD mission portfolio will fall far short of what was recommended by the NRC's decadal surveys. The space and Earth science programs will be forced to terminate or delay numerous flight missions, curtail advanced technology preparations for other future missions, and significantly reduce support for the research projects of thousands of scientists across the country.
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From page 3...
... If at all possible, the restoration of the small missions, R&A programs, and the technology investment in future missions should be accomplished with additional funding for science. The scale of the short-term resource allocation problem is modest, probably slightly more than 1 percent of the total NASA budget, but addressing that problem will help correct the immediate threats to the health of the research program and also permit NASA and its stakeholders to conduct a vigorous, open assessment of longer-term priorities and plans.
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From page 4...
... A past strength of the NASA science programs, in both their planning and their execution, has been the intimate involvement of the scientific community. Some of the current mismatch between the NASA plans for the next 5 years and a balanced and robust program stems from the lack of an effective internal advisory structure at the level of NASA's mission directorates.
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Key Terms

  • science programs
  • microgravity life
  • space exploration
  • human spaceflight
  • future missions

  • space research
  • international space
  • space station
  • nasa budget
  • total nasa

  • initial technology
  • human capital
  • technology work
  • major missions
  • adequate progress

  • exploration initiative
  • sciences programs
  • decadal surveys
  • mission directorate
  • analysis programs

  • proposed science
  • science community
  • nasa science
  • guided science
  • science mission

  • science missions
  • science communities
  • major space
  • vigorous space
  • sequencing missions


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