The Administration just released its proposed budget for 2014 and it contains some very bad news for NASA's planetary exploration program.
Our initial review shows a cut of over $200 million this year – a cut that will strangle future missions and reverse a decade's worth of investment building the world's premier exploration program.
Join me tonight, April 10th, at 6:00pm PDT / 9pm EDT (or 0100h UTC) for an emergency webcast about the budget, with expert analysis by me, Bill Nye, our Washington Consultant, Bill Adkins, and Society Advocacy strategist, Casey Dreier.
We will cover:
What happens to future planetary exploration plans at NASA?
How NASA plans to capture an asteroid and move it to lunar orbit
Is a mission to Europa still possible?
What we can do to stop cuts to planetary science
How to reach out to your representatives in Congress and the Senate
You can submit questions during the broadcast via Twitter (using hashtag #planetarylive) and on our Google+ page.
There is hope. Together, you and I can change this budget.
Your past efforts have already made a difference. Just three weeks ago the U.S. Congress rejected similar cuts proposed for Planetary Science last year. It was a clear statement of support by both Congress and the public: planetary exploration is an affordable national priority.
We can restore funding to Planetary Exploration in 2014. We've done it before. Let's do it again.
