Posted: Sat, Jul 7, 2001, 12:10 PM ET (1610 GMT)
A Congressional subcommittee may add $400 million to NASA's 2002 budget so the agency can continue work on a crew return vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station. Aerospace Daily reported Thursday that the VA-HUD-independent agencies subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, the subcommittee responsible for NASA's budget, would add the funding for CRV when it votes on the budget July 10. Funding for the CRV, as well as a planned habitation module, had been cut in the budget proposal President Bush sent to Congress earlier this year because of cost overruns on the station. The subcommittee has no plans to restore funding for the hab module, Aerospace Daily reported, because of negotiations currently in progress between NASA and the Italian Space Agency whereby Italy would contribute a hab module in exchange for additional station resources or the NASA launch of Italian satellites. The increased funds for the CRV, along with smaller increases to a few other programs, would increase NASA's overall fiscal year 2002 budget to $15 billion, $700 million more than in 2001 and $500 million more than originally proposed by Bush.

Related Links:

•  Aerospace Daily article