Posted: Wed, Sep 12, 2001, 11:10 PM ET (0310 GMT)
NASA released images taken by the International Space Station crew and other spacecraft of the New York City area in the wake of the terrorist attack there. The images clearly show the plume of smoke rising from the ruins of the World Trade Center on the southern tip of Manhattan and extending south over Brooklyn and into the Atlantic near Sandy Hook, New Jersey... The added strain on the federal budget created by the attacks could spell trouble for NASA, according to an analysis by Spacelift Washington and published on SpaceRef.com. That analysis suggests that there could be an across-the-board budget cut of up to ten percent for all non-defense and education programs to pay for additional intelligence and other defense funding, as well as federal disaster funding. Prospects for additional funding for NASA had already begun to dim before the attack because estimates of the size of the budget surplus had dropped significantly.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com article with New York City images
•  Spacelift Washington analysis of NASA budget prospects