QUESTION: 
I saw a recent NASA budget document that listed
the Mars Exploration program budget as follows

Mars Surveyor Program
Fiscal Year 1997: $ 90.0 million
Fiscal Year 1998: $139.7 million

But I thought that the Mars programs were funded at $150 million
per year.  So why are both numbers less then $150 million.

ANSWER from Mark Adler on February 21, 1997:
The $150M per year you thought is approximately correct (at least for fiscal  
year 1997).  It's split up for arcane reasons into $90M per year for designing  
and building the spacecraft, about $40M per year for launch vehicles and  
associated services, and $20M per year for operating the spacecraft once  
launched.  So what you saw in the budget was only one of those pieces.