AAU Advocacy One-Pager for FY13 NASA Budget

Dear Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall: The Association of American Universities (AAU) – representing 61 U.S. and two Canadian research universities – applauds the efforts of Congress to authorize three years of funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As the world’s premiere space agency, NASA and the research it supports have been essential to the success of the nation’s research and engineering enterprise for the last 50 years.

NASA Authorization Act 2010: Comparison between the House and Senate Authorization Bills Issue Senate Authorization Act of 2010 House Authorization Act of 2010 FY 11 Authorization FY 11 (NASA) $19 billion Exploration: $3.8 billion Space Operations: $5.5 billion Science: $5 billion Aeronautics and Space Technology: $929

Over the past decade, NASA has captivated the public with accomplishments that have revolutionized our understanding of earth and space science, the life sciences, and aeronautics. AAU applauds the Administration’s pledge to increase funding for NASA by $6 billion over the next five years. We strongly urge the Administration and Congress to meet this commitment in order to ensure the preeminence of the nation’s space enterprise.

Dear Representatives Gordon, Hall, Udall and Feeney: On behalf of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an association which represents 60 leading public and private research universities in the United States, I would like to take this opportunity to express our support for H.R. 6063, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Act of 2008. The research university community applauds the Committee on Science and Technology’s recent passage of this important authorization bill.

Science and math received greater emphasis in public education at all levels. College enrollment in science and engineering disciplines increased dramatically nationwide. Funding for both the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grew dramatically over the next decade. Funding for NSF increased from $34 million in 1958 to $500 million in 1968 while NIH’s funding grew from $210 million to $1.08 billion.

On behalf of its member institutions, AAU supports robust and continued funding for the important science and engineering research and development integral to NASA’s overall mission. AAU supports the new priorities of NASA as detailed in the Vision for Space Exploration announced by the Administration in January 2004 and believes that scientific and engineering research and analysis are key components of NASA’s exploration mission. We also believe that NASA’s overall science and engineering portfolio and scientific disciplines not directly connected to the Vision should receive the attention and robust financial support they deserve in fiscal year 2007.

 Charges NASA with carrying out a balanced set of programs including programs in human space flight, aeronautics research and development, and scientific research including space and earth science. Encourages NASA to work with entrepreneurs, use commercial services to the extent practicable, and to involve other nations to the extent appropriate.

Description of major changes included in the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute Compared with H.R. 3070 as Reported by the Subcommittee

For many years, Congress and the Administration protected the science portfolio and missions of NASA from inevitable cost overruns in large human programs, such as the International Space Station and the Shuttle program, through a budgetary firewall. This separation within the budget ensured that NASA’s science portfolio was not raided by programs related to the human exploration mission of NASA. This ensured that NASA held onto both its human space exploration mission as well as its science mission. Last year, this protection was dropped and it has resulted and will continue to result in numerous programs being cut or slated for cancellation in the science program due to large budgetary pressures from the Space Station, the Shuttle program, and other large proposed missions.