US Proposes $19 Billion for Nasa in Fiscal 2017 Budget

US President Barak Obama has proposed $19 billion for the US space agency in the fiscal 2017 budget - a little less that $19.3 billion (roughly Rs. 1,31,100 crores) Nasa received for the fiscal 2016.

According to the initial numbers released by Nasa, while $5.6 billion are earmarked for science, $3.3 billion (roughly Rs. 22,416 crores) are for deep-space exploration programmes like Mars.

The proposed budget also lists $5.1 billion for space operations, including $1.4 billion (roughly Rs. 9,509 crores) for upkeep of the International Space Station (ISS) and $1.2 billion (roughly Rs. 8,151 crores) for the Commercial Crew programme to replace the space shuttle, the US space agency said in a statement.

"The $19 billion (roughly Rs. 1,29,063 crores) budget, as proposed, would shift some funds from Nasa's Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion programmes to aeronautics and space technology, in addition to the overall cuts, while also move funds within the agency's science account," spacenews.com reported.

The decrease in Nasa budget is partly due to Obama's proposal to cut $840 million (roughly Rs. 5,705 crores) from deep-space exploration programmes and $100 million (roughly Rs. 679 crores) from planetary science.

"This imbalanced proposal continues to tie our astronauts' feet to the ground and makes a Mars mission all but impossible," Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said in a statement.

"This is not the proposal of an administration that is serious about maintaining America's leadership in space," Smith added.

In a "State of Nasa" speech at the agency's Langley Research Centre, Nasa administrator Charles Bolden made no specific mention of those cuts.

"We'll continue to make great progress on the SLS," he said.