WASHINGTON NASA facilities around the country that focus on Earth and Space Science research and exploration may bear the brunt of Mondays deep cuts to those programs if the actions of the House Appropriations Subcommittee stand.

Among those that could be likely targets are the Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Goddard spokesperson Mark Hess wasnt too optimistic. "Because of the reductions that were made in the science area, Goddard took a significant proportion of the reduction," Hess said.

But he also said that the full effects were still being reviewed. "Were doing a quick look at the budget (now), more will be available tomorrow," Hess added.

He described the amount slashed from science projects as close to a third of the total. "Whats particularly devastating about the numbers is that it looks like it was particularly after future programs," Hess explained.

The workers at the Maryland space center were just starting to hear about the House action. "I think its just now starting to get circulated around to the troops," Hess said. "I think too the local communities will start to get a sense of what these reductions would mean in these areas."

Goddard sources said that an effort would be made this week to extract from the budget documents specific examples of how the cuts would effect Goddard programs and possible staffing levels. But Hess suggested that it was still early in the funding process and that there was still hope that the money would be restored.

Among the Goddard projects hit in the cuts were the Explorer class satellites, the Triana Earth resources satellite, instruments on the SIRTF telescope probe, and Pathfinder class satellites.