Ed Weiler Resigned From NASA Over Budget Cuts | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.02.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.03.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.04.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.05.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.06.25

Sun, Feb 12, 2012

Ed Weiler Resigned From NASA Over Budget Cuts

The Agency Slashed The Planetary Sciences Program, Effectively Killing Joint Mars Mission With ESA

President Obama's proposed $300 million cut to the planetary sciences program in the FY 2013 NASA budget was what pushed Ed Weiler to resign from the agency last September, and that's the word directly from the former Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate.

Ed Weiler Official NASA Photo

In Weiler's view, the 20% cut in the program would spell an end to a planned joint mission to Mars with ESA, which he called one of the "crown jewels" of the space agency. He told ScienceInsider the cuts were "irrational."

The planetary sciences program has been cut from its current $1.5 billion to $1.2 billion in 2013, with a further reduction to $1 billion scheduled for 2017. Weiler said he had proposed an across-the-board cut of three percent to meet the budget targets.

OMB, however, singled out the joint ExoMars mission to first send a Trace Gas Orbiter to the planet in 2016, followed by European and U.S. Rovers in 2018. Weiler said that, after five successful Mars missions in a row, the cuts were "bizarre." He said NASA administrator Charles Bolden had managed to preserve the program in the 2010 budget, but the fight left him frustrated and spent.

Now retired, Weiler says he spends a lot of time walking on the beach near his Vero Beach, FL home. Though geographically not far from the space center in Cocoa Beach, he says it's a "thousand miles away from the irrationality zone."

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.whitehouse.gov/omb/

Advertisement

More News

Citation Operators Get Another Flight Data Connection for QA

LinxUs System Adds Capabilities for Data-Driven Operators Textron Aviation announced another option for operators processing their post-flight data, adding interoperability with GE>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (06.01.25)

Aero Linx: The de Havilland Moth Club Ltd The de Havilland Moth Club evolved from a belief that an association of owners and operators of Moth aeroplanes should be formed to create>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Bellanca 8GCBC

(Pilot) Inadvertently Applied Excessive Braking Action, And The Airplane Nosed Over Analysis: The pilot reported that, while landing at a remote, rough and uneven airstrip in a tai>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (06.01.25)

“MCADT is committed to rapidly integrating armed first-person view drones into the FMF, enhancing small-unit lethality and providing organic capabilities that warfighters cur>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: High-Speed Match-up - Venom and GE Rebirth A Legend

From 2017 (YouTube Edition): Major Engine Supplier Joins Forces With Small Aircraft Manufacturer… GE recently made an agreement with Venom Aircraft to supply engines for the>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC