HOUSTON Charles Bolden, NASA's chief and a self-described dreamer, says there is a line between dreams and reality when it comes to what the space agency can do, especially in light of current budget constraints.

"I am the eternal optimist, but I am also a realist," the NASA administrator told reporters during a visit to the Johnson Space Center here on Thursday (May 16). "Every single thing that we have on our plate right now, an asteroid mission, Mars, those are all very realistic. We know conceptually how to do that. We don't have all the technological capability to do it yet."

Bolden, who was in Houston to address employees and briefly visit with Chris Hadfield and Tom Marshburn, who returned from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday (May 13), spoke about the priorities set out for NASA in President Barack Obama's budget proposal for next year.

"[We have] three destinations: low Earth orbit the International Space Station right now we're handing that off to commercial entities; an asteroid by 2025; and Mars is the ultimate destination for humanity," said Bolden. "And nobody can go there if we don't go. If NASA does not lead, humanity is not going there and we're going to go there by the 2030s." [Obama Proposes NASA Budget For 2014 | Video]

But budget constraints, specifically the sequester currently affecting all federal agencies, may put some of those priorities into jeopardy of being delayed or canceled.

"If the President and the Congress are not able to solve the sequester issue, which is a 10 year problem, we're in trouble," Bolden said. "If we have to operate under sequester, in 2014, NASA's budget goes from the present $16.8 billion it will not go up to $17.7 [billion] it will go down another $800 million to about $16.1 [billion]. That's significantly below the level of spending that we have right now."

Bolden said that if NASA doesn't get out from under the sequester, he may have no other choice but to remove some of the priorities from the space agency's very full plate.

"If it goes down to that point... you could see us go to the White House, go to the Congress and say 'Okay, you all didn't solve the problem, we now have some of our priorities that are going to come off the plate,'" he said. "The only solution without destroying the agency will be to say, 'Okay, we're not going to do that priority.' That will upset a lot of people, but that's reality."

Finding another way

For now, Bolden has committed to working within the space agency's means.

Go here to see the original:

US Spaceflight Ambitions Must Face Budget Reality, NASA Chief Says