From Appropriations.house.gov
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – NASA is funded at $16.8 billion in the bill, which is $1.6 billion below last year’s level and $1.9 billion below the President’s request. This funding includes:
* $3.65 billion for Space Exploration which is $152 million below last year. This includes funding above the request for NASA to meet Congressionally mandated program deadlines for the newly authorized crew vehicle and launch system.
* $4.1 billion for Space Operations which is $1.4 billion below last year’s level. The legislation will continue the closeout of the Space Shuttle program for a savings of $1 billion.
* $4.5 billion for NASA Science programs, which is $431 million below last year’s level. The bill also terminates funding for the James Webb Space Telescope, which is billions of dollars over budget and plagued by poor management.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to Hubble. Originally budgeted at $4.5 billion dollars in 2005, due to cost blowouts and delays it is now budgeted at $6.5 billion dollars. The main mirror is 6 times the size of the $2 billion dollar Hubble, and yet it is half the weight, and is designed to run for 10 years without the possibility of being serviced by a shuttle program that won't even exist anyway. The JWST was planned be launched by an Ariane V rocket from French Guiana, as the United States does not have a suitable heavy launch vehicle available.
If cancelled, this will be the third cancelled NASA observatory programs in the last 5 years, joining the Terrestial Planet Finder, the Space Interferometry Mission in the past two years.