[Budget of the U.S. Government]
[VI. Investing in the Common Good: The Major Functions of the Federal Government]
[14. General Science, Space, and Technology]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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14. GENERAL SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
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Table 14-1. FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF GENERAL SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
(In millions of dollars)
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Estimate
Function 250 1996 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Actual 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
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Spending:
Discretionary Budget Authority... 16,692 16,629 16,439 16,427 16,246 16,235 16,226
Mandatory Outlays:
Existing law................... 28 38 38 31 31 31 31
Tax Expenditures:
Existing law..................... 845 880 1,475 830 790 780 770
Proposed legislation............. ......... 430 787 540 234 111 41
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Technology has become a major engine of economic growth, a
significant contributor to our national security, a generator of new
knowledge, and a critical tool in protecting our health and environment.
Not only has technological innovation accounted for at least half of the
Nation's productivity growth in the last 50 years, but the development
of such new technologies as computers and jet aircraft has created new
industries as well as millions of high-skilled, high-wage jobs.
All too often, though, companies will not make the investments that
could benefit all of us down the road--either the risk is too great, or
the return to the companies is too small. Thus, by making such
investments, the Federal Government plays an indispensable role in
science and technology. Federal investments must run the gamut from
basic research, to applied research, to technology development--because
scientific discovery and technological innovation are so profoundly
interwoven.
The budget proposes $16.5 billion in 1998 to conduct science, space,
and technology activities through the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the
Energy Department's (DOE) general science programs. The Government also
seeks to stimulate private investment in these activities through nearly
$1 billion to $2 billion a year in tax credits and other preferences for
research and development (R&D).
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The Government created NASA in 1958 as the successor to the National
Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, which had supported aeronautical
technology since World War I. NASA, for which the budget proposes $12.1
billion in 1998, is the lead Federal agency for R&D in civil space
activities, working to expand frontiers in air and space in order to
serve America and improve the quality of life on Earth.
NASA pursues this vision through balanced investment in:
Space Science: These programs are designed to enhance our
understanding of the creation of the universe, the formation of planets,
and the possible existence of life beyond Earth. NASA has enjoyed major
successes of late, including its discovery of possible evidence of past
life on Mars. Also, NASA's Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter,
dropped
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a probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, and found evidence of ice,
possibly liquid waters, and volcanic activities on Jupiter's moons. NASA
is shifting away from large, once-a-decade spacecraft missions and is
instead focusing on smaller, cheaper missions that can fly frequently.
Environmental Research: These programs focus on examining Earth's
natural and human-induced environmental changes through long-term
observation, research, and analysis of Earth's land, oceans, and
atmospheric processes. NASA will launch the first in a series of
environmental monitoring spacecraft in 1998.
Space Transportation Technology: Working with the private sector,
these programs explore technologies that could help produce an ambitious
experimental launch vehicle--X-33--which should complete its first test
flight by March 1999 and dramatically cut the costs of putting payloads
in space.
Human Exploration: These programs focus on establishing a permanent
human presence in Earth's orbit by developing and operating the
International Space Station. What we learn from the Space Station also
will support future decisions on whether to conduct further human space
exploration. In 1996, this program supported the successful launch of
eight Space Shuttle flights, three missions to the Russian Mir space
station, and continued construction of the International Space Station.
NASA has about 21,000 employees at its headquarters and Federal
research centers, and it conducts about 90 percent of its work through
procurements with the private sector, leading to jobs for another
175,000 people. With a constrained budget, NASA has cut redundant
operations, privatized some operations, improved its management
processes, and reformed its procurement process.
National Science Foundation
The Government created the NSF in 1950 to support research and
education in science and engineering. NSF-supported activities have led
to breakthroughs and advances in many areas, including superconducting
materials, Doppler radar, the Internet and World Wide Web, medical
imaging systems, computer-assisted-design, genetics, polymers, plate
tectonics, and global climate change. While NSF represents just three
percent of Federal R&D spending, it supports nearly half of the non-
medical basic research conducted at academic institutions. NSF also
provides 30 percent of Federal support for mathematics and science
education.
The budget proposes $3.3 billion in 1998 for NSF, which it would
invest in four key program functions:
Research: Support for research projects, comprising 56 percent of
NSF's budget, includes individual, small group, and center-based
activities.
Education and Training: Education and training activities, accounting
for 20 percent of NSF's budget, revolve around efforts to improve
teaching and learning in science, mathematics, engineering, and
technology at all educational levels.
Facilities: Investments in facilities, representing nearly 20 percent
of NSF's budget, include support for large, multi-user facilities for
cutting-edge research, such as observatories, supercomputing facilities,
and oceanographic research vessels.
Administration: Administration, covering four percent of NSF's
budget, includes internal salaries and expenses.
NSF, recognized around the world for its high standards of quality
and efficiency, relies on a rigorous, competitive process of merit
review to choose which among the 30,000 proposals it receives each year
to fund. NSF funds about a third (although it views about 70 percent as
deserving support). NSF-supported activities leverage over $1.4 billion
a year in cooperative investments from outside sources, including $250
million by some 600 private corporations.
NSF funds support over 25,000 senior scientists, and its research
funds support over 50,000 other professionals and graduate and
undergraduate students. NSF education programs reach over 120,000
teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade. As evidence of the high
quality of science that NSF supports, five of the six U.S. Nobel prize
winners
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in 1996 received NSF support early in their careers.
Department of Energy General Science Programs
DOE's general science programs, for which the budget proposes just
over $1 billion, fund its high-energy and nuclear physics R&D to expand
knowledge about the fundamental nature of matter and energy. DOE is
responsible for long-range planning for the Federal Government's program
in general science, for maintaining a balanced national program between
investing in new facilities and supporting researchers, for assuring
U.S. leadership in the world, and for coordinating its efforts with
NSF--the other leading Federal supporter of these programs.
DOE provides over 90 percent of total Federal support for high-energy
physics and 85 percent for nuclear physics. It also supports the
premiere scientific facilities in both fields. DOE-supported research in
these fields is conducted by 4,100 scientists and students from over 150
universities, 12 national laboratories, and other nations. About 2,000
U.S. users tap DOE's nuclear physics research facilities, and 2,500 U.S.
users tap DOE's high-energy physics research facilities. DOE's high-
energy and nuclear physics laboratories host about 500 visiting foreign
scientists at any given time, and about 250 students a year earn their
Ph.D.'s for research supported by these programs.
Scientists supported by DOE's high-energy and nuclear physics
programs, or who conducted their research in DOE's laboratories, have
been recognized around the world for their contributions to a variety of
important fields. Thirty researchers have won Nobel Prizes since 1939
(most recently in 1995), and 49 researchers have won DOE's own highly-
prestigious prizes--the Enrico Fermi Awards and the E.O. Lawrence
Awards--demonstrating the excellence of DOE's programs.
Tax Incentives
Along with direct spending on R&D, the Federal Government has sought
to stimulate private investment in these activities with nearly $1
billion to $2 billion in tax preferences a year. The law provides a 20-
percent tax credit for private research and experimentation expenditures
above a certain base amount. The credit, which has expired in the past,
is due to expire once again on May 31, 1997, but the President's tax
plan would extend it for one year--that is, through May 31, 1998. The
law also enables companies to deduct, up front, the costs of certain
kinds of research and experimentation.