US space scientists rage over axed projects

摘要

Proposed cuts to NASA's science budget have unleashed a storm of anger from US astronomers and planetary researchers, who say the reductions would cause irreparable harm and drive young people from the field. Under a NASA budget unveiled on 6 February (see Nature 439, 644; 2006), growth in science spending between 2007 and 2010 would be slashed by 17%. The budget proposed by President George W. Bush has yet to be approved by Congress, but many planned projects — from planet searches to a Mars sample return, as well as scores of individual research grants — are likely to be scrapped (see 'Some cuts proposed at NASA').