Aeronautics research and technology. A review of proposed reductions in the FY 1983 NASA program

Reductions in the Fiscal Year 1983 program from the original proposal to the levels of the appropriation request submitted to Congress are reviewed. The request asked for an assessment of the national criticality of the excluded programs and, for each one, the risk (probability of success) associated with achieving the objectives sought and the degree to which it might be assumed by the private sector. Based on this request, a charge comprising an assessment of those aeronautics projects excluded from the FY 1983 budget request to Congress, the likelihood that industry would undertake them, the impact of their not being done, and the more general question of the need for government to bridge the gap between the aeronautics research and technology base and early application was developed. The charge further specifies that the assessment is to encompass considerations of safety, national defense, efficient transport, and the national economy.