A NASA mission to Pluto that was set for a 2006 launch is now in jeopardy in the face of a surprising proposal to slash funding. The House on Friday voted to cut $55 million from NASA's New Frontiers program for 2004 as part of the overall NASA budget of $15.5 billion. Debate now moves to the Senate. Nearly all of the $130 million New Frontiers budget for 2004 was to be used for the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. The mission's 2003 funding is secure, but scientists warn of serious delays and cost increases if the 2004 budget is cut. The sudden and unexpected change in fortune has scientists baffled. Richard Binzel, chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society, sounded the alarm Monday in a letter to DPS members. "Such a cut will seriously delay the launch and science return" of the Pluto mission, said Binzel, an MIT professor of astronomy. He added that such a cut would ultimately increase the cost of the mission. Alan Stern, principal investigator for New Horizons, confirmed that the proposed funding cut would jeopardize the planned 2006 launch, thereby raising the overall cost of the mission. Stern leads a team at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. that is developing the probe and planning the mission.
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