Main Engine Cut OffTrial Ballooning the Lunar Budget
Jeff Foust, for SpaceNews, on Bridenstine’s short appearance in the Senate today:
He downplayed reports, though, that claimed NASA would seek an additional $8 billion a year for five years. “I will tell you that is not accurate,” he said. “It is nowhere close to that amount. But I don’t want to throw out a number until we have gone through the process with OMB and the National Space Council.”
Speculation has focused on a smaller, but still significant, increase of about $3 billion to $5 billion a year. That revised budget proposal is expected to be delivered to Congress in the near future, but Bridenstine didn’t give a specific date he thought it would be ready.
Letting the $8 billion number circulate for a few days makes asking for $4 billion seem more sane than it would have otherwise.