Bush's Proposed Cuts for NASA Research Draw Fire
Posted on: Sunday, 20 March 2005, 12:00 CST
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's proposal to cut funding and staff for aeronautics research at NASA would jeopardize future aircraft developments, lawmakers and industry experts told a congressional committee on Wednesday.
"The budget is a disaster," said John M. Klineberg, a retired NASA manager who was chairman of a National Research Council group that examined NASA's aeronautics programs. "This program is on its way to becoming irrelevant to the future of aeronautics in this country and in the world."
Aeronautics research, long a top priority at NASA, has led to the development of technology that helps planes fly quieter, navigate through bad weather, detect turbulence, reduce wind shear and emit less pollution.
The president's budget proposal increases NASA's overall budget 2.5 percent to $16.45 billion in 2006. But it directs more money toward his goal of space exploration, leaving aeronautics programs with less.
"We're going to take the 'A' out of it and it's just going to be the National Space Administration," Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said of NASA, which stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Under Bush's plan, funding for aeronautics research would be cut by $717.6 million, or 20 percent, over five years, eliminating 1,100 jobs at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., 700 at the NASA Glenn Research Center near Cleveland, Ohio, and 200 at Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Va., told the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics that as funding declines for U.S. aeronautics research and testing programs, countries in Europe and Asia are investing heavily in aeronautics research.
"It's worrisome to me that we are turning our aerospace capabilities over to other countries," Davis said. "We need to retain our superiority in the United States."
J. Victor Lebacqz, associate administrator for aeronautics at NASA, told lawmakers that the agency remains committed to aeronautics research but lacks a clear vision of its goals.
"Perhaps the time is right for a vigorous national debate on such a policy," Lebacqz said.
The National Research Council panel headed by Klineberg recommended that NASA reduce the number of aeronautics projects and focus instead on research in key areas. But NASA should develop a national strategy before consolidating programs, Klineberg said.
Meanwhile, researchers from Ohio State University and MIT warned that Bush's proposed budget cuts to aeronautics also threaten the country's future work force of aviation engineers.
"The budget pressures on NASA are at the point of potentially creating a technology void in the future," said Mike Benzakein, chairman of the Aerospace Engineering Department at Ohio State. "It is important that this be turned around."
NASA:
http://www.nasa.gov
House Committee on Science:
http://www.house.gov/science/
Source: Tulsa World
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