Dear Sirs and Madams,

I believe that it is important that there be more than one agency that has a mission to fund astronomy. Although both NASA and NSF make an effort to get unbiased reviewers and to be fair in their selection of proposals for funding, humans are involved in all of the decisions and humans tend to have intrinsic biases. Some are more willing to fund investigations with little likelihood of success but possibly high payoffs; others are more conservative. The possibility of a second chance is important.

At present, the missions of NASA and NSF differ. NSF has a responsibility for basic research regardless of its possible application; NASA is a mission agency. Of course, there is substantial overlap in how these responsibilities are interpreted. However, I believe that the overlap can be advantageous when, as has been the case, the agencies communicate frequently at the working level.