An Open Letter to NASA

As I mentioned in a previous entry, NASA's fiscal year 2007 budget contains devastating cuts to science. The new Exploration Initiative (to go to the Moon and Mars) is going to cost a lot. That money has to come from somewhere, and even though this vision was stoked by the President, he has not relegated any extra money for it. That money has to come from somewhere, and it certainly won't come from the Shuttle or the International Space Station (despite huge cost overruns, lengthy delays, and a lack of any clearly defined goal for either one). This means that the money will come from the science side of NASA, which will pay a dear price, a dear price indeed. Whole missions are being cancelled, and others are being delayed indefinitely or suffering crippling cuts. Astronomers around the country have sent letters to Griffin, expressing their alarm in various degrees of emotional level. There are some templates for letters floating around, but I found they were not adequate for what I wanted to say. So I wrote my own, and faxed it to Dr. Griffin a few hours ago. As I understand it, letters sent by tonight will be gathered together and delivered to Congress, which will then have a couple of weeks to discuss the situation. I don't expect the House Science Committee members will actually read them (though a group of staffers might, and give synopses to the Congresscritters). It's likely they'll simply count them up to know how many astronomers are good and truly ticked off. Hint: I am one of them. Below is my letter. After that, I have included links to what other astronomers are saying and doing.