Committee on Science

U.S. House of Representatives

Hearing Charter

 

NASA’s Fiscal Year 2004 Budget Request

Thursday, February 27, 2003

10:00 a.m.

2318 Rayburn House Office Building

1. Purpose

On Thursday, February 27th at 10:00 a.m., the Science Committee will hold a full committee hearing on 

NASA’s FY 2004 budget request. The hearing will examine NASA’s plans and programs and the 

rationale for the funding levels in the agency’s FY 2004 budget. The committee will receive testimony 

from the Honorable Sean O’Keefe, NASA Administrator.

The hearing is not intended to review the status of the ongoing investigation into the Columbia accident, 

but will, in addition to examining the FY 2004 budget request, examine how the grounding of the Space 

Shuttle fleet will affect other programs.

2. Budget Highlights

NASA’s FY 2004 budget request is $15.5 billion which is a 3.1 percent increase over last year’s request 

and less than a 1 percent increase from the FY 2003 appropriation of $15.3 billion. FY 2003 levels 

appropriated for each program are included in the table on the last page.

3. Major Issues

Space Shuttle tragedy ripples through NASA programs: NASA grounded the Space Shuttle fleet on 

February 1st following the tragic accident that destroyed the Space Shuttle Columbia and killed the seven 

astronauts on board. Clearly, this tragedy dramatically changes NASA’s current plans as well as plans for 

FY 2004 and beyond. An independent panel of experts is investigating the cause of the 

accident. Meanwhile, NASA and Congress face many near-term policy questions regarding the Space 

Shuttle, the International Space Station (ISS), and other related programs. Specific near-term policy 

questions include: What strategy should guide the ISS program while the Shuttle is grounded? What 

contingency plans is NASA studying if the Shuttle is grounded for an extended period? Should NASA 

accelerate plans to develop a replacement for the Shuttle system? What are the funding implications for 

NASA’s budget this year and over the next few years? 

Project Prometheus: Project Prometheus is intended to develop and demonstrate nuclear power and 

propulsion systems to enable a satellite to conduct an extended tour of the moons of Jupiter, which are 

suspected of having oceans underneath their icy crusts. Project Prometheus is an acceleration of the 

Nuclear Systems Initiative begun last year. NASA has requested $279 million for Project 

Prometheus ($3 billion over five years), of which $186 million ($1 billion over five-years) comes from 

the Nuclear Systems Initiative and $93 million ($2 billion over five-years) is for a first flight mission, the 

Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter (JIMO), to be flown within a decade. If successful, nuclear power and 

propulsion technology would enable a much more robust solar system exploration program. Travel times 

to distant planets and asteroids would be dramatically reduced and probes would not be limited to short 
fly-by missions, but could orbit and collect data for extended periods. Previous attempts by NASA to 

develop nuclear propulsion systems have not succeeded. Key issues include the feasibility, safety, and 

cost of the concept. In addition, some may question whether NASA should focus first on funding for 

other programs before beginning such an initiative.

Aeronautics R&D Funding: The Congressionally-created Commission on the Future of the Aerospace 

Industry chaired by former Science Committee Chairman Bob Walker, reported last November that the 

nation needs to take immediate action to transform the U.S. air transportation system and to deploy a new 

highly automated air traffic management system. The Commission recommended the creation of an 

interagency Joint Program Office to better focus federal investments in aeronautics, particularly for 

critical long-term research.

NASA proposes to cut funding for aeronautics by 4.5 percent over the next five years while most other 

programs are being increased. Similarly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes to cut its 

Research, Engineering, and Development account by nearly 20 percent from $124 million in FY 2003 to 

$100 million in FY 2004. While NASA, FAA and the Department of Defense have taken initial steps to 

create a Joint Program Office as recommended by the Commission, the budgets for aeronautics at NASA 

and FAA clearly reflect a dwindling financial commitment. 

Restructured Space Launch Initiative (SLI) and the Orbital Space Plane (OSP): With the decline of 

the commercial launch market, NASA’s launch requirements focus solely on servicing the International 

Space Station. Responding to criticism from the NASA Advisory Committee and recognizing that its 

current plan would not meet its technology requirements, NASA developed a new Integrated Space 

Transportation Plan (ISTP) and in November 2002, NASA submitted to Congress an amended FY 2003 

budget request. Although total funding for NASA remained unchanged, the budget amendment reflected 

significant changes to its plans for new launchers, the Space Shuttle and ISS.

In its budget amendment, NASA shifted money from the SLI program into the Space Shuttle and Space 

Station, and created a new program called Orbital Space Plane (OSP). The OSP is intended to affordably 

meet crew rescue and crew transportation needs for the Space Station. NASA is in the early stages of this 

program and the budget amendment was submitted before all the requirements had been developed for the 

program. NASA finally released the initial set of requirements in early February.

The OSP represents a substantial new commitment to develop a new manned spacecraft and the cost, 

requirements, and plans should be carefully evaluated to ensure that they are aligned with NASA’s 

needs. Prior to the Columbia accident, NASA projected that the crew rescue version of the OSP would be 

available in 2010 and the crew transfer version in 2012. A critical issue is whether plans for the OSP 

should be (and could be) accelerated to supersede the Space Shuttle more quickly. 

NASA’s Workforce: In its most recent report on major management challenges, the General Accounting 

Office (GAO) placed the management of human capital as one of the top challenges facing NASA. The 

size of NASA’s workforce has been cut significantly over the past decade, dropping from approximately 

25,000 in FY 1993 to slightly more than 18,000 in FY 2002. NASA has tried to retain workers with key 

skills, but has not always been successful because it has relied on voluntary departures to reduce its 

workforce. The problem is likely to get worse with approximately 15 percent of NASA’s science and 

engineering workforce eligible to retire. Within five years, almost 25 percent of the current workforce 

will be eligible to retire. Over the next few years the absence of individuals with critical skills could 

jeopardize NASA’s ability to accomplish its mission. Chairman Boehlert will shortly introduce a bill that 

would give NASA legislative authority to offer additional incentives to retain and recruit people with 

critical skills. NASA sent up a draft set of proposals last year, and the Chairman’s bill is the product of 

negotiations with NASA over those proposals.
Appropriations Restructuring and Full-Cost Accounting: NASA proposes to restructure its 

appropriations accounts. The new structure is intended to mirror NASA’s new strategic plan, which is 

designed to more closely link budget with performance and to put more emphasis on science and 

technology capabilities, rather than on specific projects such as the Space Shuttle or Space Station.

For the first time, NASA’s programs are in a full-cost budget format. Full cost means that all direct and 

indirect costs are identified and included in a given program budget, including civil service salaries. The 

objective is to provide a direct link between each program and the infrastructure used to more accurately 

reflect the true cost of programs.

While these changes may make the budget more revealing over time, they make it extremely difficult to 

compare the FY 2004 proposal with those from previous years. For example, full cost accounting often 

makes it appear that programs have been increased substantially when in fact the larger numbers may 

simply reflect an accounting change in which institutional support has been added to the program’s 

funding line.

The problem in making comparisons is exacerbated by the frequent previous changes NASA has made in 

its budget presentation. These changes make it difficult for Congress to conduct oversight of various 

programs -- particularly the Space Shuttle and the ISS by making it difficult if not impossible to make 

year-to-year budget comparisons. (This is one reason it is difficult to answer the seemingly simple 

question of how much has been spent on Shuttle safety.)

NASA has provided the Committee with FY 2003 request numbers that have been adjusted to reflect “full 

cost” in order to facilitate comparisons with the FY 2004 budget request. NASA cannot, however, 

convert the FY 2004 budget request into the format that it previously used. The inability to convert 

previous years’ budgets will make it very difficult to do historical budget analysis.

Integrated Financial Management and Audit. Since 1990 the GAO has identified NASA’s contract 

management as a high-risk activity due to ineffective and often incompatible accounting systems, and 

nonstandard cost reporting capabilities. Consistent, timely financial information is not available to

program managers, making it difficult to ensure that program budgets are executed as planned.

NASA failed its FY 2001 audit last year but was issued a clean opinion on its financial statement for FY 

2002. Nonetheless, many issues remain regarding improvements to NASA’s accounting and financial 

management system. To help address these issues, NASA is implementing an Integrated Financial 

Management system to provide managers with the financial tools to more effectively manage their 

programs. This new system has experienced some problems during its development and pilot testing, but 

NASA expects that the core portion of the system will be rolled out across the agency by the end of the 

1

st quarter of FY 2004. NASA believes the system will be fully implemented across the agency by the 

end of FY 2005.

4. Details of NASA’s FY 2004 Budget

Space Science

The FY2004 request is $4.0 billion, which includes a $539 million or 15.5 percent increase above the FY 

2003 request (full cost). The Space Science Enterprise seeks to answer fundamental questions about life 

in the universe, including how the solar system may have originated, whether there are planets with 

similar environmental systems to Earth’s, and where signatures of life can be found. Space Science also 

seeks to understand how the universe began and evolved, including how stars and galaxies formed. The 

Space Science program includes three new initiatives.
New Initiative - Project Prometheus: Discussed in Section 3 above.

New Initiative - Optical Communications: The budget request includes $31 million ($233 million over 

five years) to fund a new initiative in Optical Communications. Optical Communication offers the 

potential for dramatic increases in speed over conventional radio communications. NASA’s program 

builds on advances in laser communications at the Department of Defense and is aimed at demonstrating 

the technology on a telecommunications satellite that would send data back to Earth while orbiting Mars 

in 2009.

New Initiative - Beyond Einstein: The budget request includes $59 million ($765 million over five 

years) to answer vexing questions that have been left unanswered by Albert Einstein’s theories. To 

accomplish this, NASA proposes a series of small spacecraft to take measurements of gravity waves and 

observe black holes, and to conduct investigations of the structure of the universe.

Earth Science

The FY 2004 request is $1.6 billion, which includes a $58 million or 3.5 percent cut from the FY 2003 

request (full cost). The mission of the Earth Science Enterprise is to develop a scientific understanding of 

the Earth system to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards. The decrease is the 

result of major development programs that are past their peak spending and are preparing for launches in 

2004, including AURA, Cloudsat, and Calipso. NASA has requested $96 million for the NPOESS 

Preparatory Project (NPP) under development in partnership with the National Oceanographic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Defense. NPP transfers critical research 

instruments to operational agencies and maintains data continuity for NASA-sponsored scientific 

investigation. NASA has also requested $60 million for the Landsat data continuity mission, which is an 

innovative program to seek partnerships with industry to continue receiving critical land remote sensing 

data. The budget request also includes $524 million for research and modeling that help answer critical 

scientific questions on climate change to aid policy and economic decision-makers.

New Initiative - Climate Change Research Initiative Acceleration: The budget request includes $26 

million ($72 million over five years) to fly an advanced instrument, called a polarimeter[1], to enhance the 

ability to evaluate mechanisms affecting climate change not associated with carbon dioxide. Specifically, 

the instrument will measure methane, tropospheric ozone, aerosols, and black carbon. This initiative 

accelerates the launch of this instrument by about four years.

Biological and Physical Research

The FY 2004 request is $973 million, which includes a $60 million or 6.5 percent increase over the FY 

2003 request (full cost). NASA’s Biological and Physical Research (BPR) Enterprise conducts 

interdisciplinary fundamental and applied research that takes advantage of the unique environment of 

space to study biological and physical processes. BPR provides funding for the research to be conducted 

on the Space Station, as well as other platforms. As a result of the grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet, 

BPR’s budget outlook and near-term plans are unclear.

New Initiative – Human Research Initiative: The budget request includes $39 million ($374 million 

over five years) to perform research with the goal of extending the ability of crew to safely conduct 

missions over 100 days beyond low Earth orbit (ISS is in low Earth orbit) where radiation levels are 

significantly higher.

Aeronautics 

The FY 2004 request is $959 million, which includes a $10 million or 1 percent increase over the FY 

2003 request (full cost). NASA plans to cut Aeronautics by $43 million or 4.5 percent over the next five 
years. The Aeronautics program is intended to invest in technologies to create a safer, more secure, 

environmentally friendly, and efficient air transportation system. As stated in Section 3, NASA and 

FAA’s investments in aeronautics R&D are dwindling at a time when many, including the Aerospace 

Commission, are calling for increased investment and collaboration.

New Initiative – Aviation Security: The budget includes $20 million ($195 million over five years) to 

address critical aviation security needs, such as airspace protection, damage tolerant structures and 

autonomous flight controls.

New Initiative – National Airspace System Transition Augmentation: The budget includes $27 

million ($100 million over five years) for NASA to work in cooperation with FAA to transition 

technology needed to develop the next generation National Airspace System. The goal is to increase 

capacity, efficiency, and security.

New Initiative – Quiet Aircraft Technology: The budget includes $15 million ($100 million over five 

years) to accelerate development and transfer of technologies to cut perceived noise in half by 2007 

compared to 1997 levels.

Education Programs

The FY 2004 NASA Education budget request is $170 million, which includes a $10 million or 6.3 

percent increase over the FY 2003 request (full cost). NASA requested $78 million for education 

programs designed to encourage students of all ages to pursue math and science education and the Space 

Grant and EPSCOR programs. EPSCOR, modeled on a National Science Foundation program, is 

designed to help institutions in states that traditionally have not received much research funding from the 

federal government. NASA has targeted $92 million for minority university research and education 

grants. In addition, $55 million in education-related funding is managed by the five other NASA 

enterprises.

New Initiative – Education Initiative: The budget includes $26 million ($130 million over five years) 

to establish the Educator Astronaut Program; the NASA Explorer Schools Program, which is designed to 

provide middle school students with the most recent discoveries and technologies; a Scholarship for 

Service Program, which would use scholarships to attract new employees; and the Explorer Institutes, to 

link with informal education centers, such as museums and science centers.

International Space Station

The FY 2004 budget request is $1.7 billion[2], which includes a $144 million or 7.8 percent decrease from 

the FY 2003 budget request (full cost). The primary reason for the decreased funding is that development 

activities are nearly complete and on-orbit operations and research are the focus of planned 

activities. The budget outlook and plans for the Space Station in the near-term are unclear while the 

Space Shuttle fleet is grounded. There is no doubt that the Shuttle grounding will have a significant 

impact on the program and a prolonged grounding of the Shuttle will likely increase the cost of the Space 

Station program.

Three crew, two Americans and one Russian, are currently on board the Space Station. A Russian Soyuz 

crew return capsule is currently docked to the Space Station should the crew need to return for any 

reason. At the hearing, Administrator O’Keefe is expected to address the contingency plans NASA is 

considering to maintain and proceed with the program.

The Space Station program has been plagued for years with cost overruns and schedule slips. In 2001, 

NASA revealed that costs would grow by $4.8 billion over the ensuing five years. In response, the Office 

of Management and Budget directed NASA to drop significant technical content from the program to 

offset the cost growth. Also, NASA appointed a task force to review ISS program management. The ISS 
Management and Cost Evaluation (IMCE) Task Force concluded that the program was not credible and 

made numerous recommendations to restore credibility. In 2002, Administrator O’Keefe, sought to bring 

the program under control by making several management changes and reforms. He requested help from 

the Defense Department to establish a credible cost estimate for the remainder of the program, and 

directed a review and prioritization of the research program.

Today, NASA estimates the cost to complete the Space Station and operate the station until 2016 to be 

approximately $17 billion[3]. This is in addition to the $20 billion appropriated for the program between 

1994 and 2002.

Space Shuttle

NASA’s FY 2004 request is $3.9 billion, which includes a $182 million or 4.8 percent increase above FY 

2003 request (full cost). In the FY 2003 appropriation, the conferees added $50 million to the President’s 

request to cover the cost of the Columbia accident investigation. At this time it is impossible to know 

when, or if, the cause of the accident will be determined, and what type of corrective measures will be 

necessary to return the Shuttle to flight. NASA had planned for five Space Shuttle flights in FY 2004 in 

support of the ISS, but the fleet is now grounded indefinitely. In the near-term, the Space Shuttle 

program will be assisting the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, chaired by Admiral Hal Gehman, 

Jr. In addition, Space Shuttle program personnel, primarily at the Kennedy Space Center continue to 

process the payloads planned for this year with the hope that the Shuttle program will not be grounded for 

a prolonged period. (NASA grounded the Shuttle for 32 months following the Challenger accident in 

1986.)

The proposed budget includes $379 million of investments ($1.7 billion over five years) in support of the 

Integrated Space Transportation Plan as part of the Shuttle Service Life Extension Program 

(SLEP). NASA has combined three programs from last year (Shuttle Safety Upgrades, Supportability, 

and Infrastructure Revitalization) into the new program. The implementation of the Cockpit Avionics 

Upgrade, the Advanced Health Monitoring System, and the External Tank friction stir weld projects 

found in last year’s safety upgrades budget continue under SLEP.

The March 2002 annual report of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel stated that current budget 

projections for the Space Shuttle are insufficient to accommodate significant safety upgrades, 

infrastructure upgrades and maintenance of critical workforce skills over the long term. Concurrent with 

the panel’s recommendation, Associate Administrator for Space Flight Fred Gregory directed that 

NASA’s Space Shuttle upgrade strategy should be developed to maintain Space Shuttle capability to fly 

safely beyond the planned phase-out in 2012 and through 2020. The results of this study provided the 

basis for the FY 2003 budget amendment proposed by NASA last November. Specifically, the 

amendment proposed the creation of the Service Life Extension Program for Shuttle, in addition to adding 

funds to bolster reserves on ISS, and creating the Orbital Space Plane program to provide crew rescue and 

transportation capabilities for ISS.

NASA FY 2004 Budget

(Budget Authority - $ millions)

Business 

as Usual

FULL COST

By Appropriation Account

 By Enterprise

 By Theme

Pres. 

Req.

FY03

Est. 

Pres. 

Req. 

FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08
Science, Aero, & Exploration 7,015 7,101 7,661 8,269 8,746 9,201 9,527

Space Science 3,414 3,468 4,007 4,601 4,952 5,279 5,573

 Solar System Exploration 976 1,046 1,359 1,648 1,843 1,952 2,054

 Mars Exploration 496 551 570 607 550 662 685

 Astronomical Search for Origins 698 799 877 968 1,020 1,022 1,061

 Structure &Evolution of the Univ. 331 398 432 418 428 475 557

 Sun-Earth Connections 544 674 770 959 1,111 1,169 1,216

 Institutional 370 -- -- -- -- -- --

Earth Science 1,628 1,610 1,552 1,525 1,598 1,700 1,725

 Earth System Science 1,249 1,529 1,477 1,440 1,511 1,606 1,629

 Earth Science Applications 62 81 75 85 87 94 96

 Institutional 318 -- -- -- -- -- --

Biological & Physical Research 842 913 973 1,042 1,087 1,118 1,143

 Biological Sciences Research 245 304 359 399 453 456 481

 Physical Sciences Research 247 351 353 392 380 409 401

 Commercial Research & Support 170 254 261 251 254 253 262

 Institutional + AM + SAGE 181 3 -- -- -- -- --

Aeronautics 986 949 959 932 939 934 916

 Aeronautics Technology 541 949 959 932 939 934 916

 Institutional 445 -- -- -- -- -- --

Education Programs 144 160 170 169 169 170 170

 Education 144 160 170 169 169 170 170

Space Flight Capabilities 7,960 7,875 7,782 7,746 7,881 8,066 8,247

Space Flight 6,131 6,107 6,110 6,027 6,053 6,198 6,401

 Space Station 1,492 1,851 1,707 1,587 1,586 1,606 1,603

 Space Shuttle 3,208 3,786 3,968 4,020 4,065 4,186 4,369

 Space Flight Support 239 471 432 419 402 407 429

 Institutional 1,192 -- -- -- -- -- --

Crosscutting Technology 1,829 1,768 1,673 1,720 1,828 1,868 1,846

 Space Launch Initiative 879 1,150 1,065 1,124 1,221 1,257 1,224

 Mission & Sci. Measurement Tec 275 434 438 435 439 439 444

 Innov. Tech Trans. Partnership 147 183 169 161 168 172 179

 Institutional 528 -- -- -- -- -- --

Inspector General 25 25 26 28 29 30 31

TOTAL 15,000 15,000 15,469 16,043 16,656 17,297 17,806

Source: NASA FY 2004 budget estimate

Funding Category FY03 Request FY03 

Approps 

without 

0.65% 

rescission

FY03 Approps 

with 0.65% 

rescission
Human Space Flight 6130.9 6180.9 6161.8

 International Space Station 1492.1* 1492.1* 1482.4

 Space Shuttle 3208.0 3258.0 3258.0†

 Payload and ELV Support 87.5 87.5 86.9

 Investment and Support 1178.2 1178.2 1170.5

 Space Comm. & Data Systems 117.5 117.5 116.7

 Safety, Mission Assur., Engineering 47.6 47.6 47.3

Science, Aeronautics, and Technology 8844.5 9207.7 9147.8

 Space Science 3414.3 3524.3 3501.4

 Biological, & Physical Research 842.3* 868.8* 863.2

 Earth Science 1628.4 1719.0 1707.8

 Aero-Space Technology 2815.8 2891.9 2873.1

 Academic Programs 143.7 203.5 202.2

Inspector General 24.6 25.6 25.4

TOTAL 15,000.0 15,414.2 15335.0

Source: CRS Report RS21430, Feb 24, 2003, NASA Budget documents and H.Rept. 108-10 to accompany H.J.Res. 

2, the Omnibus Continuing Appropriations resolution. Columns may not add due to rounding.

† Space shuttle is exempt from rescission.

* Total funding for the Space station is the sum of the funding under Human Space Flight plus a portion of the 

funding in Biological and Physical Research. The total FY2003 Request for space station was $1,839 billion: 

Congress approved that amount and added $8 million for ISS plant and animal habitats.

[1] A polarimeter is a device that measures the polarization of radio waves scattered off the atmosphere. Using 

polarization data, scientists can determine the concentration of various gases and chemicals.

[2] The $1.7 billion includes institutional support costs (new for FY 2004), but does not include space shuttle and 

research costs associated with ISS. 

[3] Does not include institutional support costs, space shuttle costs or research costs associated with ISS.