NASA suspends Space Station researches due to budget cut

The US based Space Agency NASA has said that they are contemplating shutting down all the research programs related to the International Space Station (ISS) for at least a year to control the deficit in their allocated budget. The space station research budget was cut to $ 200m due to rising costs in the shuttle program and Hurricane Katrina casualties.

Space station research was already axed to just over $ 200 million last year to help the U.S. space agency pay for Hurricane Katrina losses and cost overruns in the space shuttle program. Less than $ 100 million was asked for station research for the year beginning on October 1.

Meanwhile, speaking on the recent Agency’ss reports, NASA Deputy Space Station Program Manager Kirk Shireman told, “All those things are under consideration. Right now, we’re quite a bit in the hole. We’re looking at a number of options.”

The shuttle this month successfully demonstrated NASA's $ 1.3 billion investment in safety upgrades following the 2003 Columbia disaster. The shuttle fleet is set to resume flying four or five missions a year until its retirement in 2010 to finish assembly of the half-built $ 100 billion station.

It indicates that priority has been on completing the space station than on spending money on research programs. When implementing over $ 300 million of station cuts last year, US space Agency’s Administrator Mike Griffin told Congress it was more significant to get the station built than spend money for research.

If ever under the new plan, NASA will not carry out research on the evolving space platform in the following year. Research projects will resume a year or two later. However, some critics said NASA's proposal to suspend station research entirely for 2007 might be going too far.

"I'm startled that they would even discuss this with a straight face given that this would be dead-on-arrival in Congress, which has put it into law that it supports station research," said Keith Cowing, who runs the privately funded NASAWatch.com.

"Cutting science programs would suggest that it is merely a joy ride to the Moon," said Katie Boyd, spokeswoman for Alabama Republican senator Richard Shelby told media.

However, under the plan, NASA would resume funding station research in 2008 or 2009, although start-up costs could be high.