Jan 20 1979
From The Space Library
At a press conference on NASA's budget for fiscal year 1980 (FY80), Dr. Robert A. Frosch, NASA administrator, said the 1980 budget year would not "go down in history as my favorite." The request NASA submitted to Congress was just over $4.7 billion, an increase of about $160 million over the FY79 budget, counting in the latter a $185 million supplemental NASA had asked for. The FY80 request would amount to slightly less than the rate of inflation, Dr. Frosch said; not counting the $185 million supplemental in the FY79 budget, the 1980 request would be "about equal to inflation." Whereas funding sought for space science and applications was up about 20% and the total amount included support for all ongoing programs, it contained no money for "new flight project starts of any major kind" in space sciences or applications. The budget did contain "some increases in aeronautics, where it is more difficult to identify a major new start in any case." "Current best estimate" for the first Space Shuttle flight was November 9, postponed from September 28, and NASA's schedule had been adjusted accordingly.
Money requested for space science had increased $100 million, about 20% over FY79; this covered major projects and research and development now under way, such as Space Telescope, Galileo (the Jupiter-orbiter probe), the high-energy astronomical observatory, Spacelab, the solar polar mission, infrared astronomy satellite, and solar maximum mission. Applications funding included money for joint multi-agency research in crop monitoring and commodity projection by NASA, together with the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior and the Agency for International Development (AID). Funds for aeronautics would increase 14% to cover current research and technology and to continue the aircraft energy efficiency program, with research on reduction of noise and pollution.
In manpower, NASA would lose 674 permanent Civil Service positions over FY79 and FY80, part of this the agency's share of a government-wide 2 % cut in personnel. Frosch summarized the budget as one that "in key program areas continues momentum... while it's tight, we think we can make a good transition to the Shuttle era and we can keep going; on the science, the applications, and the aeronautics. . ." (Text; W Star, Jan 22/79, A-10)
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