Spider Star
The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an extinct alien race. But then an archaeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon...
Read More.Praise for Star Dragon
"Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction."
-- David Brin"Star Dragon is terrific fare, offering readers a fusion of hard science and grand adventure."
-- Locus Magazine"Star Dragon is steeped in cosmology, the physics of interstellar travel, exobiology, artificial intelligence, bioscience. Brotherton, author of many scientific articles in refereed journals, has written a dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."
-- Booklist starred review"Readers hungry for the thought-provoking extrapolation and rigorous technical detail of old-fashioned hard SF are sure to enjoy astronomer Brotherton's first novel."
-- Publishers Weekly"Mike Brotherton, himself a trained astrophysicist, combines the technical acuity and ingenuity of Robert Forward with the ironic, postmodern stance and style of M. John Harrison. In this, his debut novel, those twin talents unite to produce a work that is involving on any number of levels. It's just about all you could ask for in a hardcore SF adventure."
-- Paul di Fillippo, SCI-FI.COM
Search
Astronomy in the New U.S. Presidential Budget Request
February 14th, 2012
I mentioned Sunday about planetary astronomy getting a big cut. Now, thanks to the American Astronomical Society (AAS), I can report on how the rest of astronomy has fared. Not as badly as I thought, but I also found out today that an educational/public outreach grant program I was going to apply to has been cut. Ugh! At least I find out now before the proposal is written and submitted rather than later.
***
Informational Email 2012-03
Bethany Johns
John Bahcall Public Policy Fellow
Astronomy in the President’s FY 2013 Budget Request
The President released the FY 2013 Budget Request on February 13, 2012. Federal funding for astronomy is mainly from NASA and NSF. Below is a quick analysis of the proposed budget compared to FY 2012 estimated actual dollars for both agencies.
The President’s FY2013 budget request for science and technology and research and development supports the Administration’s commitment to double the budgets for three key science agencies. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is one of the three agencies the President has committed to doubling, over a reasonable timescale. However, NASA is in not included as one of the key agencies.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
The President has requested $17,711.4 billion in FY 2013 for NASA. This is a decrease of about $60 million compared to FY 2012.
The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) which houses the Astrophysics, Planetary Science, Heliophysics Divisions, and JWST, is requested to be $4,911.2 million for FY 2013, a decrease of $161.5 million compared to FY 2012; a decrease of 3.2 percent.
Planetary Science is proposed to decrease $309.1 million from $1,501.4 million in FY 2012 to $1,192.3 million in FY 2013; a decrease of 20.6 percent.
Astrophysics is proposed to decrease $13.3 million from $672.7 million in FY 2012 to $659.4 million in FY 2013; a decrease of 2 percent.
James Webb Space Telescope received the requested amount according to the new re-plan, increasing $109 million from $518.6 million in FY 2012 to $627.6 million in FY 2013; an increase of 21 percent.
Heliophysics increased $26.5 million from $518.6 million in FY 2012 to $647 million in FY 2013; an increase of 4.3 percent.
Within the SMD, Planetary Science decreased by the largest amount. At the NASA budget release roll-out event, Charles Bolden, the NASA Administrator, said, “We could not do another flagship right now.” Beth Robinson, the CFO of NASA, stated, “Planetary science’s decline is due to MSL and other expenditures going down.” The stated plan for planetary science is to identify and define a synergy with science and human space flight, efficiently accomplishing two agency priorities.
No specifics on an integrated strategy were presented, but a rough timeline for progress was mentioned, with a goal of summer for an internal process with input from the community. Bolden emphasized that the directorates are not merging, but creating a synergy. NASA is not ready to define a combined mission, but will work with scientists and the National Research Council’s Vision and Voyages Planetary Decadal Survey in the next months.
Plutonium-238 is proposed to be funded at $10 million from the Technology line item within Planetary Science. The is no cost-share agreement with the Department of Energy, as in past years.
The explorer programs in Astrophysics and Heliophysics are both proposed to decrease the most. Each decreased 33.1 percent and 23.4 percent, respectively.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
The President has requested $7,373.1 million in FY 2013 for NSF, a proposed increase of $340 million from $7,033.1 million in FY 2012 and an increase of 4.8 percent.
Astronomy (AST) is funded through the Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) Directorate in the Research & Related Activities(R&RA).
AST is proposed to increase $10 million from $234.55 million in FY2012 to $244.55 million in FY 2013, an increase of 4.3 percent. AST Research is requested to increase by $10.63 million, from $73.23 million in FY 2012 to $83.86 million in FY 2013; an increase of 14.5 percent.
The increase in AST Research is due mainly to a proposed growth in the Enhancing Access to the Radio Spectrum (EARS) program increase of $9.0 million. AST is the home of radio spectrum management for the entire NSF, and this is where the EARS program was founded.
The NSF budget document states, “Approximately 57 percent of AST’s budget is used to support current operations and future development of large multi-user astronomy facilities, while 33 percent supports individual investigator grants and 6 percent supports the development and operation of advanced instrumentation and experiments based on such instrumentation. In general, about 19 percent of the AST budget is available for new research grants, while the remainder funds long-term facilities and continuing awards for grants made in previous years.”
The Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) is proposed to remain relatively flat at $197.17 million. In FY 2013, Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is ramping down, but the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) is ramping up to $25 million.
The American Astronomical Society will release a statement on the FY 2013 President’s Budget Request in the coming weeks.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Does this adversely affect Launch Pad?
Well, not 2012 Launch Pad in Laramie, but we’re trying to set up a new streamlined version to run at Dragon*Con and this may affect our ability to do that.
in other news, the woolly mammoth video was debunked by the original author of the river video. He is a professional photographer who filmed Siberia wildlife.
his video showing a river WITHOUT any animal crossing it, was copied without his permission, and then a CGI wolly mammoth was added and the image was blured and shaken, so you cant properly see the details of the CGI
There’s no telling what will happen to this proposed budget once it hits congress. Republicans are really in the mood to shrink the government. On the other hand, we keep hearing reports about how the U.S. is falling behind other countries. I expect things will end up much different than the proposed budget, but haven’t a clue as to what to predict.
Yeah, true, Jim. I suppose there’s a possibility that if Obama is trying to make big cuts to NASA, the Republicans will argue for increases just to be contrary.