House proposes budget cut for NASA

Leaders of the U.S. House appropriations committee today proposed a $379 million cut to NASA's budget this year compared to the $19 billion President Obama proposed last year.

That would leave NASA with about $100 million less than if the 2010 budget levels the government has been operating with so far this year were maintained. NASA's 2010 budget was $18.7 billion.

Take a look at all the $74 billion in proposed cuts here.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden has said previously that a flat budget this year would result in cuts to spending proposed to modernize Kennedy Space Center infrastructure, though NASA intended to fully fund the program in later years.

The NASA Authorization Act of 2010 budgeted $428.6 million for launch support and infrastructure improvements this year.

It does not appear that the proposed cut, if approved, would derail plans to launch Atlantis as the final shuttle flight this summer, but NASA has not yet said how it will pay for the mission.