Nasty budget cut would spell doom for NASA's space plans, so said the Space Frontier Foundation a few days ago. In another round of money saving attempts, NASA managers are considering suspending US science research aboard the International Space Station (ISS) next year. Dropping the  science research is one of the several options to make up for the $100 million funding shortfall plaguing NASA.

NASA is currently preparing to launch shuttle Atlantis toward the ISS to complete the construction of the half-built space station by September 2010. The future of the space station science remains bleak after NASA was forced to divert funds from its science and exploration coffers to complete the ISS and retire the shuttle program.

Kirk Shireman, deputy director of NASA’s ISS program at Johnson Space Center (JSC) said, “The ISS has severe budgetary limitations next year. We’re working very hard not only within the program, but with headquarters as well to balance it out...I’m confident that we’ll come out with options and a plan to go forward that will be satisfactory for the ISS program and for NASA and the taxpayers as a whole."