By Daniel Siegal
Pasadena Sun
President Obama's budget proposal, unveiled on Wednesday, would cut funding for planetary exploration at NASA by roughly $200 million, although it still funds several high profile missions being planned out of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.The proposed budget includes $1.2 billion for NASA's planetary science division, down from the $1.4 billion in its 2013 budget.
The division is especially important to JPL because it includes locally developed missions such as the Curiosity rover project and a planned mission to Jupiter's moon, Europa.
At a news conference Wednesday, NASA administrator Charles Bolden said that the $17.7 billion apportioned to the agency as a whole in the president's latest budget proposal would ensure the United States remained the world leader in space exploration. But it would not be without challenges.
