One of the consequences of the last congress’s inability to do anything is that NASA is operating in fiscal year 2007 under a continuing resolution. This means that it is able to spend on each program the lesser of what it spent last year or what it proposed to spend this year. With costs ramping up to develop the Orion vehicle and the Ares launch vehicles, and with the so-called Vision for Space Exploration the top priority of the agency, money for those programs will now have to come from other programs. NASA’s earth science programs, already hurting, may well get additional cuts. NASA was looking at increase of more than half a billion dollars, so that’s how much has to be recouped from other programs to cover the Vision developments. I don’t know if this will have any ramifications for the approval of Cassini’s extended mission or not, but I’ve already heard rumors about cancellations of atmospheric science programs.