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such as closed ecology biospheres, technologies like robotics. It's very difficult to say which is the more important not only to the future of our space program but really to the future economic growth of this country in the next century.
Jack, would you like to take a crack at prioritizing them?
Dr. KERREBROCK. I'd be happy to comment on that subject. Let me first make a distinction between the base technologies or what is called in your budget breakout space R&T-—the research and technology base-—and those seven items which are highlighted in our report which we choose to call technology validation suggestions.
Now, the base technology program of NASA right now-—the space R&T base is $171 million in the present budget. So, that is the thing which we have recommended should be tripled. That's not going to break the Treasury, certainly, to do that. My point is that the R&T base which is the umbrella funding under which NASA runs the center activities which are focused on basic research and development, and from which it funds its external collaborators—-universities, research laboratories, and so forth, which form a very important part of the space R&T community of the United States is a small item in the budget.
It is presently too small by the measure I would like to give you which is that it doesn't make the best use of the talent, both in NASA and in that supporting community outside. There are many, many bright students, faculty, and so forth, in universities, and there are other people in small research laboratories and in large companies who would very much like to participate at NASA's R&T base program who don't, because NASA doesn't have the money to fund them.
Now in part--but one part of the answer to your question is that you don't have to expand the manpower of NASA in order to get that benefit. Now, I'm not speaking of the large systems part of NASA. I'm talking about the research part of NASA.
Now, let me characterize that activity, which is funded out of the R&T base as broad exploratory opportunity generating research. It's the kind of research in which you really don't know what's going to arise as a result of the investment that you make. It's absolutely essential to make sure that you don't miss the opportunities and, for example, have them arise overseas.
The seven technology validation items that we highlighted are the ones in which we feel that there is sufficient knowledge of the opportunities so that the country needs to move ahead and further develop those technologies to the point where they can be selected for use for program implementation if there's a decision to do so.
These seven are--let me just list them--are the national aerospace plane technologies, which have a large component, or a significant component, anyway, in NASA, even though most of the money is coming from DoD; advance rocket technologies, which we feel are essential to the adequate, or optimum development, let's say, of the next generation of rocket launch vehicles; aerobraking for orbital transfer; closed ecosystems; electric propulsion; nuclear electric power systems, which, again, are largely supported by DoD at the present time with a small involvement from NASA; and then, finally, the tether technologies.