The US House Appropriations Committee has approved a bill that would maintain NASA's budget at the same level as last year. However, lawmakers missed an opportunity to strike out the proposed $85 million relocation of a space vehicle to Houston.

The approval contains amendments to restore some of the science that was set to be cut, including the New Horizons mission, Juno, and the Chandra X-ray observatory. The Senate appropriation committee went further, but it is clear that neither committee agrees with the downward funding direction of the US President's budget request for the space agency, particularly when it comes to the proposed axing of a large chunk of the agency's science programs.

Notably absent from the list of amendments was more funding for the Mars Sample Return mission, w

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