A key lawmaker said Thursday’s she’s deeply troubled with NASA’s budget request and proposed cuts to science programs, including the James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA’s fiscal year 2015 budget request is $17.6 billion, down $186 million from FY ’14. The civil space agency’s request includes a $179 million cut to science programs, down from $5.1 billion enacted for FY ’14. In addition to the Webb Telescope, NASA’s science programs include earth and planetary science, astrophysics and heliophysics. Of those five programs, only heliophysics received a higher budget request for FY ’15. 
“I don’t want science to be a bank account for other projects that might or might not happen in the future,” Senate Appropriations commerce, justice, science and related agencies subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said Thursday’s during a hearing on NASA’s FY ’15 budget request.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden defended reduced funding for science programs, saying the agency found efficiencies in the way it flies earth science missions. An example of an earth science mission is the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) I-M series of satellites. These are the primary element of United States weather monitoring and forecast operations and are a key component of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) operations and modernization program, according to NASA.
“We’re trying to find more and more ways to get efficiencies in our program,” Bolden said.
“You and I really strongly disagree on this,” Mikulski responded.
Bolden said NASA still plans to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) via an American rocket by 2017. The United States currently contracts with Russia to get U.S. astronauts to the ISS. Known as the Commercial Crew Program (CCP), Bolden said the $848 million requested for CCP in FY ’15, partnered with the $696 million appropriated in FY ’14, will keep NASA on target for 2017. Blue Origin, Boeing [BA], Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) are all developing technology to transport humans to low-earth orbit (LEO).
Mikulski spokesman Vince Morris said a subcommittee markup date has not been set.