WASHINGTON
— The U.S. Senate approved a NASA authorization bill Sept. 25 that gives
Congress the authority to spend up to $20.2 billion on the U.S. space agency in
2009 and places new conditions on the agency's plan to retire the space
shuttle.
If
the bill becomes law, NASA would be directed to take no steps prior to April
30, 2009 that would preclude the option of flying the space shuttle beyond 2010,
according to a congressional aide familiar with the legislation. The
authorization includes $1 billion to accelerate development of the Orion Crew
Exploration Vehicle and its Ares 1 rocket and $100 million for the development
and demonstration of a commercial crew vehicle.
Both
Barack Obama
and John McCain,
the two major U.S. presidential candidates, have called out in recent weeks for
NASA to keep its options open in regards to shuttle retirement.
While
the bill approves a 2009 budget that is approximately $2.6 billion above the
White House request, it provides no actual money. The House of Representatives
approved Aug. 26 a spending resolution that would keep NASA funded at its 2008
level of $17.3 billion until March.
Still,
the bill would require NASA to submit to Congress within 120 days of enactment
a report on extending shuttle operations beyond 2010. NASA Administrator Mike
Griffin ordered such an assessment in late August but said in an interview that
the results would not be publicly released unless otherwise ordered by
Congress.
The
bill would also formalize NASA's plan to launch two dedicated logistics flights
to the international space station and require the agency to add a flight to
deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the orbital outpost. At the same
time, the bill also outlines conditions under which NASA could cancel that
mission, such as extraordinary marginal costs.
Beyond
the shuttle language, the bill would also send NASA into the next presidential
administration with a fresh endorsement of its plan to replace the space
shuttle with Orion and Ares and set its sights on a 2020 return to the Moon.
While
time is running out for passage of the bill, a congressional aide said the
House of Representatives was poised to take the legislation up under a
suspension of rules that would allow it to pass on a simple voice vote.
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