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When we discussed the NASA Columbia Shuttle mission, it seemed clear that financial constraints and budgetary limitations at NASA were interwoven into the circumstances that led to the disaster. But, the tensions around NASA funding are ongoing. The final quote from the article is telling, “You just can’t finalize your plans until you have the overall funding…” Decision making in complex organizations like NASA is difficult enough without financial consierations. However, when cost becomes a real part of the equation of things where lives are on the line, the challenge is mangnified even more.
2 replies on “NASA Budget Battle”
Budget is definitely something that shapes decisions. As an example, in Europe, some countries contribute in a larger scale to the overall European Space Agency’s budget (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Space_Agency for the exact numbers), and therefore, they expect to get more projects approved. This way, the investment they made is returning to them. When it comes to approve next year’s projects, ESA considers obvious factors like their scientific or technological impact but also the countries that are involved in the project.
At NASA the budget situation is particularly broken because their priorities can change completely every time a new administration is elected to office (this article is a few years old, from when Michael Griffin was still in charge, but it’s a good introduction nonetheless: http://discovermagazine.com/2006/sep/cover).
Almost all of the last 30 Shuttle mission have been to fulfill still-unrealized International Space Station assembly commitments to other countries. Sadly, the Columbia mission in 2003 to test the SPACEHAB research module was one of the only science missions in the last decade.