Friday, February 5th, 2010

Science and the Budget

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A full-scale mockup of NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle on display in August 2009. Image credit: NASA/SSC

This week, President Obama unveiled his proposed budget for 2011. Tthe proposed budget would distribute spending among projects differently from previous years, with increases for the NIH, programs dealing with renewable energy, and climate change. The Centers for Disease Control would see a small decrease in funding if the proposals are adopted by Congress. Major shifts included the canceling of funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, and the termination of NASA's 'Constellation' program, which was to provide a next-generation space vehicle after the retirement of the space shuttle fleet. We'll talk about how the proposed budget might affect science, and the odds of the proposals surviving a trip through Congress.

Guests

Marcia Smith
Founder and Editor, SpacePolicyOnline.com
President, Space and Technology Policy Group
Arlington, Virginia

Andrew Chaikin
Author, "A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts" (Time Life, 1999)
Boston, Massachusetts

Dan Kammen
Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy
Energy and Resources Group
Goldman School of Public Policy
Department of Nuclear Engineering
Founding Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California

Jeffrey Mervis
Deputy News Editor, Science Magazine
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Washington, DC

Thomas Kalil
Deputy Director for Policy
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Washington DC

Related Links

Segment produced by:Annette Heist

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