Obama’s NASA Allocations Preserve Campaign Promise

The International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE) applauds President’s Obama’s first NASA budget, unveiled yesterday, for delivering on his campaign promise to provide overall nearly $2 billion in increased funding to the nation’s Aerospace Agency ($1 billion in the Stimulus Package plus a nearly $1 billion plus-up in FY10 appropriations). The union is also anxiously awaiting the verdict of a Blue Ribbon panel to learn exactly how NASA will proceed with its Human Spaceflight programs.

Among the key beneficial features of the President’s NASA budget are:

• An effective Aeronautics budget of $657 million ($507 million + $150 million from the Stimulus Package) or 31.4% higher than the enacted 2009 level. This will allow NASA to meet its existing responsibilities to enhance Aviation Safety, help develop the Next Generation Airspace system, and to perform fundamental research, while also creating a new program focused on environmentally friendly aeronautic systems that will make civilian aviation more efficient and less harmful to our environment. IFPTE is however troubled by overall outyear budgets that fall back down to near Bush levels starting in FY2011.
• An effective Science budget of $4.88 billion ($4.4 million + $400 million from the Stimulus Package) or 8.3% higher than the enacted 2009 level. This will allow NASA to meet its vital commitment to Earth and Space science research just as it is becoming crystal clear that America can no longer afford to ignore the problem of global climate change and just as it is time to launch the next generation of planetary probes and telescopes.
• An effective Exploration budget of $4.36 billion ($3.95 million + $400 million from the Stimulus Package) or 24.5% higher than the enacted 2009 level. This will allow NASA to move forward with a more honest effort to meet America’s human space exploration goals, starting with a thorough independent review of the current manned rocket development plan. IFPTE is however disappointed that neither Recovery Act funds nor a baseline increase were allocated to Advanced Capabilities, NASA’s only remaining space research & technology account, which remains 26.6% below even the 2008 level (and less than a third below that at the onset of the Bush cuts).

IFPTE President Gregory Junemann expressed his appreciation for the overall new
direction of NASA’s FY2010 budget:

“It is truly gratifying that we are beginning to see the tangible fruits of the November election. IFPTE is grateful to President Obama for keeping his campaign promise to provide a $2 billion dollar infusion into NASA, despite the extreme fiscal pressures caused by the severe economic downturn. What a difference a year makes! Instead of being presented with a new round of cuts to Aeronautics and Science, we are finally seeing NASA moving towards a budget that comes closer to matching its awesome responsibilities.

“IFPTE also applauds the Administration for setting up an independent panel to review Constellation’s current human spaceflight architecture and plans. We look forward to their technical determination of what is on track and what is not and of what other reasonable options should be considered, and especially to their recommendations on how best to proceed given where NASA is today.

“IFPTE is also pleased to see that NASA is moving forward towards a timely retirement of the Shuttle program. While we support a ninth flight to bring the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the Space Station if this can be accommodated within fiscal year 2010, it would seem unreasonable to spend more than $2.5 billion – 5 times the entire annual Aeronautics budget – to fly this single mission in fiscal year 2011. On the other hand, simply continuing to fly the Shuttle through the gap would not only be a prohibitively expensive proposition, but is also a dangerous gamble. However amazing the Shuttle era has been, it is time for NASA’s human spaceflight program to move forward into an exciting new era with new vehicles to carry a new generation of Americans safely into space.

“Lastly, America’s dominance in Aerospace depends on sustained, vigorous R&D programs. So, we look forward to working with the new Administrator and Congress to find new ways to support these currently under-funded programs. Providing these resources will be crucial in fostering the innovation necessary for safer, faster, quieter, more efficient civil aviation, for successful extended human exploration, and for maintaining America’s long-term leadership in Aerospace – all of which are key factors in enhancing our economic competitiveness and maintaining national security.”

IFPTE is NASA’s largest Civil Servant union, representing thousands of NASA workers across the country.