The Senate Budget Committee today recommended increasing the amount of funds available to NASA for FY2011 to $19.7 billion, $1 billion more than the agency’s FY2010 appropriations or $726 million above the President’s request for FY2011. Reading the summary of the committee’s intent and listening to a colloquy between the committee’s chairman, Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), suggests that the motivation is to support terrestrial military requirements at least as much as space program goals, however.