In the Administration's proposed 2014 budget plan, $17.7 billion was requested for NASA. That's $50 million less than the agency got in 2012. It would also cut the agency's budget for the planetary science division by $200 million.
The proposed cuts would sabotage a mission to Europa, a moon of Jupiter that could support life and It delays for years efforts to send smaller spacecraft throughout the solar system. This will have long-lasting repercussions on the scientific and engineering community.
But this is not a new story. Last year, the Administration's budget plan proposed an outsized 21% cut to NASA's Planetary Science Division, which congress rejected.
We ask the administration focus on balancing America's budget without cutting NASA's budget and to support planetary research.