NASA Cancellation Letter for Inspiring the Next Generation of Earth Explorers Grants

Dear Colleagues:
It is with much regret that I must inform you that NASA’s Office of Education will not be able to fund the second and third years of your Inspiring the Next Generation of Earth Explorers grants. NASA and the Office of Education are continuing to experience substantial transition and consequently must make difficult budget choices. The Office of Education’s FY 06 budget of $166 million has been adversely impacted by congressionally-directed appropriations or earmarks totaling $82.7 million, approximately 50 percent of the total budget. Accordingly, we must absorb these unfunded requirements out of the existing Office of Education budget.
The Inspiring the Next Generation of Earth Explorers program is one of ten programs whose total budgets have been re-directed to cover other program priorities for fiscal years 2006 and beyond.
I recommend that you keep your grants open in the event our FY07 or FY08 budget picture changes. Also, please prepare your annual progress reports and submit them to me by August 4, 2006.
We realize you will not be able to successfully achieve all of the identified goals and objectives of your program. Yet, we believe the programs you developed will have a positive impact on your institutions and other affiliates involved in the program. Although the opportunities for support are limited, I urge each of you to keep a watchful eye on the NASA Education website (www.education.nasa.gov ) for notification of the future solicitations such as the Curriculum Improvement Partnership Award for the Integration of Research (CIPAIR) program which should be available this fall. I also recommend that each of you contact the Space Grant program in your state for information on opportunities for collaboration and participation in existing programs and activities.
Finally, I look forward to future opportunities to work with your institutions on NASA projects.
Sincerely,
Dr. Carl S. Person
Acting Manager
NASA Space Grant and EPSCoR Programs