[Budget of the United States Government]
[VI. Investing in the Common Good: Program Performance in Federal Functions]
[15. General Science, Space, and Technology]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
               15.  GENERAL SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY

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               Table 15-1.  FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF GENERAL SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
                                            (In millions of dollars)
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                                                                               Estimate
               Function 250                   1998   -----------------------------------------------------------
                                             Actual     1999      2000      2001      2002      2003      2004
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Spending:
  Discretionary Budget Authority..........    17,950    18,775    19,202    19,408    19,372    19,339    19,335
  Mandatory Outlays:
    Existing law..........................        44        72        78        68        34        34        34
Tax Expenditures:
  Existing law............................     2,385     1,985     1,490     1,035       855       795       765
  Proposed legislation....................  ........       311       933       656       281       133        53
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  Science and technology are principal agents of change and progress, 
with over half of the Nation's economic productivity growth in the last 
50 years attributable to technological innovation and the science that 
supported it. Appropriately enough, the private sector makes many 
investments in technology development. The Federal Government, however, 
also plays a role--particularly when risks are too great or the 
potential return for companies is too long-term.
  Within this function, the Federal Government supports areas of 
cutting-edge science, through the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the 
Department of Energy (DOE). The activities of these agencies contribute 
to greater understanding of the world in which we live, ranging from the 
edges of the universe to the smallest imaginable particles, and to new 
knowledge that may or may not have immediate applications to improving 
our lives. Because the results of basic research are unpredictable, the 
challenge of developing performance goals for this area is formidable.
  Each of these agencies funds high-quality research and contributes to 
the Nation's cadre of skilled scientists and engineers. To continue this 
tradition, and as a general goal for activities under this function:
  At least 80 percent of the research projects will be reviewed 
          by appropriate peers and selected through a merit-based 
          competitive process.
  Another important Federal role is to construct and operate major 
scientific facilities and capital assets for multiple users. These 
include telescopes, satellites, oceanographic ships, and particle 
accelerators. Many of today's fast-paced advances in medicine and other 
fields rely on these facilities. As general goals:
  Agencies will keep the development and upgrade of these 
          facilities on schedule and within budget, not to exceed 110 
          percent of estimates.
  In operating the facilities, agencies will keep the operating 
          time lost due to unscheduled downtime to less than 10 percent 
          of the total scheduled possible operating time, on average.
  The budget proposes $19.2 billion to conduct these activities. The 
Government also stimulates private investment in these activities 
through over $1 billion a year in tax credits

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and other preferences for research and development (R&D).

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  The budget proposes $12.5 billion for NASA activities in this 
function. NASA serves as the lead Federal agency for research and 
development in civil space activities, working to expand frontiers in 
air and space to serve America and improve the quality of life on Earth. 
NASA pursues this vision through balanced investment in four 
enterprises: Space Science; Earth Science; Space Transportation 
Technology; and Human Exploration and Development of Space.
  Space Science programs, for which the budget proposes $2.2 billion, 
are designed to enhance our understanding of how the universe was 
created, how stars and planets evolve and die, and the possible 
existence of life beyond Earth. In the past year, NASA spacecraft 
achieved several important watershed events in Space Science including 
the first direct image of a planet outside the solar system, taken by 
the Hubble Space Telescope, and a confirmed discovery of ice on the moon 
by the Lunar Prospector mission.
  NASA Space Science will successfully launch its three planned 
          spacecraft--the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, and Mesosphere 
          Energetics and Dynamics mission; the Imager for Magnetopause-
          to-Aurora Global Exploration, and the High Energy Solar 
          Spectroscopic Imager--within 10 percent of their schedules and 
          budgets.
  NASA Space Science will develop innovative new technologies to 
          reduce the cost of future spacecraft by delivering the first 
          engineering model of a standard, miniaturized integrated 
          avionics system, to be used for the Europa Orbiter and future 
          missions.
  The NASA Advisory Council will rate all near-term Space 
          Science objectives as being met or on schedule. Examples of 
          objectives include: investigate the composition, evolution and 
          resources of Mars, the Moon, and small solar system bodies 
          such as asteroids and comets; identify planets around other 
          stars; and observe the evolution of galaxies and the 
          intergalactic medium.
  Earth Science programs, for which the budget proposes $1.5 billion, 
focus the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global 
environment through long-term, space-based observation of Earth's land, 
oceans, and atmospheric processes. This year, NASA's Tropical Rainfall 
Measuring Mission provided new insights that will enable weather 
forecasters to more accurately predict where and when a hurricane will 
hit land.
  NASA Earth Science will successfully launch its three planned 
          spacecraft--the Advanced Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor, 
          the Vegetation Canopy Lidar (VCL) mission, and a technology 
          validation mission to reduce the costs of future Landsat 
          missions--within 10 percent of their schedules and budgets.
  NASA Earth Science will double the volume of precipitation, 
          land surface, and climate data it archives from its missions 
          compared to 1998, increase the number of products delivered 
          from its archives by 10 percent, and make the data available 
          to users within five days.
  NASA's Advisory Council will rate all near-term Earth Science 
          objectives as being met or on schedule. Examples of objectives 
          include: observe and document land cover and land use change 
          and impacts on sustained resource productivity; and understand 
          the causes and impacts of long-term climate variations on 
          global and regional scales.
  Space Transportation Technology programs, for which the budget 
proposes $240 million, work with the private sector to develop and test 
experimental launch vehicles that reduce the cost of access to space.
  The X-33 program will begin flight testing in 2000 to 
          demonstrate technologies that are traceable to the mass 
          fraction and operability required for future reusable launch 
          vehicles (including 48-hour surge turnarounds and seven day 
          routine turnarounds with a 50-person ground crew).
  The X-34 program will continue flight testing in 2000 to 
          demonstrate tech

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          nologies key to the operational requirements of future 
          reusable launch vehicles including high flight rates 
          (including a flight rate of 25 flights in one year).
  Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) programs, for which 
the budget proposes $5.6 billion, focus on the use of human skills and 
expertise in space. In 1998, HEDS programs supported the successful 
launch of four Space Shuttle flights, including one flight to better 
understand the functioning of the nervous system in the environment of 
space. In November, 1998, assembly of the International Space Station in 
orbit began with the joining of the first Russian and American modules.
  On the International Space Station, NASA will deploy the U.S. 
          Laboratory Module, initiate Station-based extra-vehicular 
          activity capability, and activate a Station-based external 
          robotic manipulator within performance, schedule and budget 
          targets.
  NASA will ensure that Space Shuttle safety, reliability, 
          availability and cost will improve, by achieving seven or 
          fewer flight anomalies per mission, successful on-time 
          launches 85 percent of the time, and a 12-month flight 
          manifest preparation time.
  NASA will expand human presence and scientific resources in 
          space by initiating continuous three-person crew presence on 
          the International Space Station.

National Science Foundation

  The budget proposes $3.9 billion in 2000 for NSF. 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, and 
30 percent of Federal support for mathematics and science education. In 
1998, NSF investments, in conjunction with NIH, led to the discovery 
that biological clocks are not just in the brain, but in genes, thereby 
prompting the consideration of new strategies for the treatment of 
disorders associated with jet lag, shift work, and seasonal depression. 
In addition, NSF-funded scientists determined that the years 1997, 1995, 
and 1990 were the warmest since 1400 A.D., providing further evidence of 
the importance of human influence on the global climate system.
  NSF research and education investments are made in three primary 
areas:
  Research Project Support: Over half of NSF's resources support 
research projects performed by individuals, small groups and centers, 
and instrumentation grants.
  An independent assessment will judge whether NSF's research 
          investments have lead to important discoveries and new 
          knowledge and techniques, both expected and unexpected, within 
          and across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The assessment 
          will also determine connections between discoveries and their 
          service to society.
  NSF will maintain the percentage of competitive research 
          grants going to new investigators at a minimum of 30 percent.
  Facilities: Facilities such as observatories, particle accelerators, 
research stations, and oceanographic research vessels provide the 
platforms for research in fields such as astronomy, physics, and 
oceanography. About 20 percent of NSF's budget supports large, multi-
user facilities required for cutting-edge research. NSF facilities will 
meet the function-wide goals to remain within cost and schedule, and to 
operate efficiently.
  Education and Training: Education and training activities, accounting 
for 19 percent of NSF's budget, revolve around efforts to improve 
teaching and learning in science, mathematics, engineering, and 
technology at all education levels. Education and training projects 
develop curriculum, enhance teacher training, and provide educational 
opportunities for students from pre-K through postdoctoral.
  Over 80 percent of schools participating in a systemic 
          initiative program will: 1) implement a standards-based 
          curriculum in science and mathematics; 2) further professional 
          development of the instructional workforce; and 3) improve 
          student achievement on a selected battery of tests, after 
          three years of NSF support.

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Department of Energy

  DOE provides major scientific user facilities and sponsors basic 
scientific research in specific fields supporting over 60 percent of 
federally-funded research in the physical sciences.
  The budget proposes $2.8 billion for DOE science programs, which 
include high-energy and nuclear physics, basic energy sciences, 
biological and environmental research, fusion energy sciences, and 
computational and technology research. These programs support scientific 
facilities for high-energy and nuclear physics and fusion energy 
sciences and the research performed by the users of the facilities. They 
also provide and operate synchrotron light sources, neutron sources, 
supercomputers, high-speed networks, and other instruments that 
researchers use in fields ranging from biomedicine to agriculture, 
geoscience, and materials. These facilities provide the cutting-edge 
experimental and theoretical techniques to enable insights into dozens 
of applications, and they are available, on a competitive basis, to 
researchers funded by NSF, other Federal agencies, and public and 
private entities. DOE's facilities will meet the function-wide goals to 
remain within cost and schedule, and to operate efficiently. Regular 
peer-review assessments will judge whether DOE science programs have 
high scientific quality.
  Basic Energy Sciences (BES) supports basic research in the natural 
sciences for new and improved energy techniques and technologies, and to 
understand and mitigate the environmental impacts of energy 
technologies.
  BES will continue construction of the Spallation Neutron 
          Source, at cost and timetables as contained in the Critical 
          Decision II agreement, to provide beams of neutrons used to 
          probe and understand the properties of materials at an atomic 
          level. This research leads to better fibers, plastics, 
          catalysts, and magnets and improvements in pharmaceuticals, 
          computing equipment, and electric motors.
  Computational and Technology Research (CTR) performs long-term 
computational and technology research through an integrated program in 
applied mathematical sciences, high-performance computing and 
communications, information infrastructure, and laboratory technology 
research.
  CTR will develop advanced computing capabilities, 
          computational algorithms, models, methods, and libraries, and 
          advanced visualization and data management systems to enable 
          new computing applications in science.
  Users will judge that computer facilities and networks have 
          met 75 percent of their requirements.
  Biological and Environmental Research (BER) provides fundamental 
science to develop the knowledge to identify, understand, and anticipate 
the long-term health and environmental consequences of energy 
production, development, and use.
  BER will complete sequencing of 50 million subunits of human 
          DNA and provide these to publicly accessible databases.
  BER will commence full operation at three Atmospheric 
          Radiation Measurement sites to provide unique climatological 
          data.
  High Energy and Nuclear Physics (HENP) strives to deepen the 
understanding of the nature of matter and energy at the most fundamental 
level, as well as understanding of the structure and interactions of 
atomic nuclei.
   HENP will deliver on the 2000 U.S./DOE commitments to the 
international Large Hadron Collider project. HENP facilities will 
provide cutting-edge scientific capabilities to further study the 
fundamental constituents of matter.
  Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) conducts research on the scientific and 
technical basis for an economical and environmentally acceptable fusion 
energy source.
  FES will operate the National Spherical Torus Experiment and 
          three small, innovative experiments to provide a basic 
          scientific understanding of fusion concepts.

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Tax Incentives

  Along with direct spending on R&D, the Federal Government has sought 
to stimulate private investment in these activities with tax 
preferences. The current law provides a 20-percent tax credit for 
private research and experimentation expenditures above a certain base 
amount. The credit, which was extended in 1998, is due to expire on June 
30, 1999. The President proposes to extend it for one year. Under 
current law, the credit will cost $1.7 billion in 1999 and $1.0 billion 
in 2000. The extension will cost $0.3 billion in 1999 and $0.9 billion 
in 2000.
  A permanent tax provision also lets companies deduct, up front, the 
costs of certain kinds of research and experimentation, rather than 
capitalize these costs. This tax expenditure will cost $510 million in 
2000. Finally, equipment used for research benefits from relatively 
rapid cost recovery. The cost of this tax preference is calculated in 
the tax expenditure estimate for accelerated depreciation of machinery 
and equipment.