Posted: Sat, Jun 20, 2009, 10:50 AM ET (1450 GMT)
The US House of Representatives passed on Thursday an appropriations bill that retains a cut in NASA's exploration program for fiscal year 2010. The House passed the Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill Thursday on a 259-157 vote that largely fell along party lines. The bill includes $18.2 billion for NASA in fiscal year 2010, over $400 million more than what the agency received for 2009 but nearly a half-billion dollars less than what the White House requested. The bill retains a cut of nearly $700 million in NASA's exploration account that was made by an appropriations subcommittee earlier in the month. The justification for the cut by the subcommittee was that was supposed to be a "time-out" for NASA's exploration efforts while they are review this summer by an independent committee. The Senate has yet to begin work on its version of the appropriations bill.

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