The tradition of creating NASA program and mission patches was borrowed from the military.

The result would be the curtailment or elimination of many other NASA programs, including the planetary one.

A new NASA program, called Astrophysics Science SmallSat Studies, aims to turn their gaze outward, toward the cosmos.

By doing this, MSC appeared to disregard warnings from Congress that no new NASA programs would be tolerated.

The Obama administration's budget also knocked the Constellation program for siphoning money "away from other NASA programs, including robotic space exploration, science, and Earth observations."