WASHINGTON — House and Senate appropriations conferees have agreed to provide $14.8 billion for NASA in 2002, $508 million over the agency’s 2001 spending level and $282 million more than U.S. President George W. Bush requested.

The joint House-Senate version of the NASA spending bill, called a conference report, must still be approved by the full Congress before going to Bush for his signature.

If the bill passes, the international space station program would see an overall decline of $95 million. However the bill would provide $40 million for continuing development of the X-38, a NASA prototype of the Crew Return Vehicle the space station needs to support a seven-person crew.

The space shuttle program would be fully funded but the program’s upgrade budget would be reduced. The bill allots $25 million to begin repairs on the space shuttle Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

House and Senate conferees went against NASA and Bush administration wishes by including $30 million for the Pluto Kuiper Express mission, which had been canceled. That move drew immediate applause from the Planetary Society, a space exploration advocacy group.

"This is a victory for public interest," Louis Friedman, executive director of the Planetary Society, said in a Nov. 7 statement. "The people let Congress know that they want NASA to explore Pluto — the only remaining unexplored planet in our solar system — and Congress responded."

The NASA money is included in an $85 billion bill providing funding for veterans, housing, emergency management, environmental protection and other federal programs.