The Consequences Of Cuts

As Congress tries to deal with huge federal budget deficits that project for years into the future, NASA's budget-- well less than one percent of the overall federal budget-- is seeing the space agency devour its own in an attempt to maintain at least some momentum in its space exploration efforts.

After budget cuts forced NASA to withdraw from the ExoMars program it had developed with the European Space Agency, NASA is now looking at a smaller Mars mission. To pursue that mission, however, it is gutting funding for outer planet exploration-- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and all their moons. A few of those moons are candidates to be the home of life. Finding life beyond Earth is supposed to be a main focus of NASA.

NASA says it will invite international partners to join its smaller Mars mission. The Europeans, at least, will likely decline.