US panel backs space budget cut

The proposed cuts could limit President Bush's plans for manned missions to the Moon and Mars

A US House of Representatives panel has voted to cut the money given to fund space, environment and science programmes for next year.

Some was allocated instead to boost war veterans' health care by $2bn.

Correspondents say the cut is a stark example of budget pressures faced by a Republican-run Congress. Democrats said spending limits were too tight.

The move comes on the 35th anniversary of the day that Neil Armstrong took man's first steps on the Moon.

The astronaut and his Apollo 11 crew members, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, gathered in Washington to celebrate their 1969 landing.

'Brutally fair'

The BBC's Barnie Choudhury in Washington says the allocation of funds shows Congress's determination to provide cash at a time of war.

"The choices have been brutally fair," said James Walsh, chief author of the measures.

But some Democrats on the panel complained about the spending limits Republicans have voted to impose on Congress.

"This year I think it's going to be very clear it's becoming excruciating, if not unacceptable," said Alan Mollohan, a top Democrat on the subcommittee.

The measures will have to be supported by a full House and the Senate before US President George W Bush could approve it.

Just $372m was provided out of the $910m Mr Bush wanted for initial preparations for manned missions to the Moon and Mars.

Nasa's human space flight programme has been grounded since the shuttle Columbia disintegrated in February 2003, killing seven astronauts.

In January, President Bush said astronauts will be back on the Moon by 2020, and will establish a lunar base to prepare for human exploration of Mars.