spacetoday.net: NASA budget proposal seeks to cancel WFIRST

Posted: Sat, Feb 17, 2018, 6:20 PM ET (2320 GMT)
WFIRST illustration (NASA)

The administration's 2019 budget proposal for NASA includes plans to cancel a major space telescope. The budget proposal, released Monday, included the cancellation of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), the next flagship astronomy mission after the James Webb Space Telescope. Agency officials cited the need to free up funding in a budget that is projected to remain flat for several years to support growing exploration programs as a reason to end WFIRST, which had been working to rein in its growing costs. The proposal also seeks to cancel five Earth science missions and close NASA's Office of Education, as in last year's request. The proposal provides $19.9 billion for NASA, including several new programs for lunar exploration and low Earth orbit commercialization to support an end of NASA operations of the International Space Station in 2025. However, one key member of Congress, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), declared the budget proposal a "nonstarter" on Capitol Hill.