spacetoday.net: Federal spending bill signed into law

Posted: Sat, Apr 16, 2011, 10:08 AM ET (1408 GMT)
NASA

The president signed into law Friday a final spending bill for fiscal year 2011, providing nearly $18.5 billion for NASA. The legislation, the result of protracted negotiations that nearly led to a government shutdown last week, gives NASA $18.485 billion for the fiscal year which started last October 1,down from the $18.724 billion it got in 2010 and the $19.0 billion requested for 2011. The legislation also removes a provision from the 2010 appropriations act that prevented NASA from canceling Constellation contracts, despite the passage last year of a new authorization act that ended many elements of Constellation. The bill also funds the rest of the federal government; the administrator of NOAA warned this week that the funding levels in the bill could delay a new weather satellite program, the Joint Polar Satellite System, by two years, potentially causing a gap in weather data.