spacetoday.net: Senate passes NASA budget

Posted: Fri, Sep 16, 2005, 7:51 AM ET (1151 GMT)
US Capitol

THe US Senate approved a budget that provides $16.4 billion for NASA in 2006, an amount very close to what the President originally requested. The $16.4 billion is $60 million less than what was in the original budget proposal, but is still $200 million higher than what the agency received in 2005. Included in the budget was $250 million to begin work on a shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, a project not in the original request. An effort by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) to restore nearly $50 million in cuts to NASA's aeronautics budget failed. The NASA budget was part of a $48.9 billion spending bill that includes funding for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, as well as other science agencies. The Senate version of the budget must be reconciled with the House version, which provided $75 million more for NASA than the Senate's bill.