NASA and DOE spared in US budget for 2011

Science : As of Friday when US Democrats and Republicans struck their 11th-hour deal to approve a budget for 2011, science and space exploration were spared any disastrous cuts, writes Yudhijit Bhattacharjee for Science. NASA will receive $18.5 billion, just $200 million less than the 2010 level and $500 million below President Obama’s 2011 request. In addition, NASA was allowed to cancel the Constellation Program, which centered on human spaceflight and the development of spacecraft to replace the space shuttle.The Department of Energy saw a budget reduction of only $30 million, writes Adrian Cho . That is only 0.6% of the 2010 level and brings the 2011 budget to $4.874 billion. The predominant response to the announcement was relief, as the agency had expected to lose as much as 18% from its Office of Science budget. The office’s national labs will be able to keep running, which means tens of thousands of researchers from various agencies still have jobs. Officials, though, do expect that some trimming will be necessary and can’t guarantee that no layoffs will be made. The final budget is 4.8% short of the $5.121 billion requested by the Obama administration for 2011.