Representative Dave Weldon, R-Fla., has already gathered a group of 50 house members to sign a letter opposing the cuts and has met with House leaders who told him they don't want NASA's budget cut.

"That's very reassuring," Weldon said, "but I've told them I can't vote for this bill (with the NASA cuts)."

The proposed cuts are included in the VA-HUD spending bill and Weldon said there is little flexibility for making up for the lost money.

Weldon said that he is drafting an amendment that will take $100 million from the Environmental Protection Agency, also included in he bill, and give it to NASA. "But that wont make up for a $900 million gap."

"We're going to do battle with them," said Rep. Ralph Hall, D-Texas, the ranking member of the House Science Committee. "We're going to make every effort to right a wrong."

Hall said he will spend time in Houston talking about the space program during break.

The fate of the NASA's proposed budget cut will be decided after the August recess when it will be debated on the House floor. It was scheduled for debate Thursday and Friday but Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.V., who is coordinating the debate for the Democrats, asked for it to be pushed back because of a death in his family.

But developments surrounding the bill are expected over the recess. Jeff Lungren, a spokesman for the Republicans on the House Science Committee, said the delay will allow time to come up with new ideas for NASA funding.

Weldon agreed, adding that the time will help to build a stronger coalition against the proposed cuts. He said that he expects the bill to be debated in the first full week after the House returns.

"We are working with appropriators fighting for NASA's share of the budget," Lungren said. However he said that because of the 1997 budget resolution, which put caps on discretionary spending, NASA has had to fight harder to get money.

Lungren noted that other entities with a lot of political clout are fighting for the same funds, like public housing and veterans affairs.

"I put NASA right up there with those," Hall said, citing the biomedical studies going on in space. "What we need is a breakthrough."

If a cure for cancer or diabetes came from space, Hall said, there would be no problem getting money for NASA.

Dr. Louis Friedman, executive director of The Planetary Society, a nonprofit group that backs space exploration, said members of his group are already mobilizing. A special page appears on the group's web page urging people to write their congressmen.

"We know they are sensitive to this on the Hill," Friedman said. "We know our members are writing in. We've had a good response." Friedman could not specify on how many people wrote in.