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NASA Budget and Spending

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Grendal

SpaceX Moderator
Moderator
Jan 31, 2012
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Santa Fe, New Mexico
Included is the:
Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Table (all values in millions of dollars)

NASA receives $20.7 billion in omnibus appropriations bill - SpaceNews.com

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US manned spaceflight is still quite active and hopefully by next year NASA will experience some financial relief utilizing the Dragon 2. This past Wednesday NASA spent roughly 140 million dollars to launch two US astronauts aboard a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, successfully docking only a few hours ago. NASA could be getting a whole lot more value for the price of a couple Falcon 9 launches.

Interesting, although not surprising, it's full speed ahead into the SLS/Orion money pit. Costing taxpayers 2 billion a year since 2011, we might see the first test flight two years from now. No worries, if you can't fly might as well grab for the 350 million that was just approved to build a second SLS mobile launch platform.
 
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US manned spaceflight is still quite active and hopefully by next year NASA will experience some financial relief utilizing the Dragon 2. This past Wednesday NASA spent roughly 140 million dollars to launch two US astronauts aboard a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, successfully docking only a few hours ago. NASA could be getting a whole lot more value for the price of a couple Falcon 9 launches.

Interesting, although not surprising, it's full speed ahead into the SLS/Orion money pit. Costing taxpayers 2 billion a year since 2011, we might see the first test flight two years from now. No worries, if you can't fly might as well grab for the 350 million that was just approved to build a second SLS mobile launch platform.

On the SpaceX discussion forums, the consensus is that everyone involved in maintaining the SLS debacle sees the writing on the wall with SpaceX and are pushing for as much as possible now before the well dries up. They've got 3 to 5 years before SpaceX makes it a little too obvious that SLS is a ridiculous money pit. For now they can play the ULA card that the USA needs more than one Heavy lift vehicle besides Falcon Heavy.
 
They've got 3 to 5 years before SpaceX makes it a little too obvious that SLS is a ridiculous money pit
To some of us (and I include you in that group ;) it was obvious years ago. But I agree that by the time the first BFR actually flies it will be obvious to everyone, except for Senator Richard Shelby and a few others in Congress, that the SLS project should be cancelled. But I don’t expect it to be cancelled because by then the first flight will probably have occurred and NASA will come up with some sort of rationalization to do one or two more flights. It won’t be cancelled until multiple BFRs are launching to Mars every two years.
 
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Education got a big boost!
If I understand this chart, they asked for $37M, and got 100. I guess that came with a mandate of some sort.
Interesting to see how lawmakers went against the whitehouse in many areas: Space Launch System, planetary exploration get big boosts in NASA budget – Spaceflight Now
The education office was slated to be shuttered, not to see its budget tripled. There other examples in there.
I have no historical background on this to know if it is common.