questioning his plans for nasa. if you look at it on its surface, getting billions of dollars for that is is. >> reporter: clearly this white house is trying to find a compromise. the president's ormg budget plan would have cut off funding for some of the existing rocket programs politically unpopular with lawmakers from states like florida, fearing layoffs and what not from the costs. the letter from neil armstrong and rock stars of the small ifrm a ternlt, without the skill and material, they are likely to be a long downhill slide to immediate mediocrity. the white house is saying there have been tore tough budget choices made and seen nasa where they want to shift priorities. i think it's clear now given the criticism from the former