Good news and bad news about NASA's budget this week on planetary radio. Radio. Hi everyone, welcome once again to Public Radio's travel show that takes you to the

final frontier.

I'm Matt Kaplan. In a time of budget cuts for most

federal agencies, NASA may receive a slight increase. But what will the money be spent on?

We'll talk about dollars and directions with

Senior Washington advisor and consultant Lori Garver and the Planetary

Societies Lou Friedman. We'll also hear how the budget will affect NASA's exciting

Prometheus effort from the project's director John Cassani. And later, though I

hate to say it, you'll hear how Bruce Betz has really gone to the dogs on what's up.

Here's the latest news from around the Milky Way.

There are reports that Deputy NASA Administrator and former Shuttle astronaut Frederick Gregory may be named acting administrator.

If it becomes official, Gregory will be the first African American to run the agency.

Cassini has recaptured the headlines emerging from Saturn's moon Titan.

The orbiter's radar has sent back stunning images of the surface.

You can see and read about them at planetary.org.

Spirit has now spent well over 400 Martian days or souls

exploring the surface of that fascinating neighbor of ours.

The Mars Exploration Rover is still carefully climbing the

Columbia Hills toward the Cumberland Ridge. Along the way she is finding more

possible evidence of water. Opportunity has turned its microscopic imager on its own

shattered heat shield, with scientists now beginning to analyze the data.

And how about the brightest flash of light in all history?

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