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Congress Mulls NASA Budget
By Randy Barrett
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 11:35 am ET
10 April 2003
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By Randy Barrett In a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies, NASA Administrator Sean OKeefe outlined the agencys $15.5 billion request and gave an update on the Columbia shuttle investigation. According to OKeefe, 30 percent of the dry weight of the ill-fated orbiter has been recovered and 6,000 people are still searching for debris. So far, ground searchers have combed more than 250,000 acres, or about 45 percent of the 400 km-long debris field. OKeefe said the investigation is nearing an end and a final report will likely be released in the next few months. The subcommittee was uniformly supportive of the shuttle investigation and no one directly questioned NASAs space-flight budget request of $6.1 billion for 2004. Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) asked whether, in light of the Columbia tragedy, manned space flight might be too dangerous to pursue. "It is the instinct of the human heart to move forward," said OKeefe. "Something went dangerously wrong [with Columbia]. Were going to find out what it was, fix it, and move on." OKeefe added the agency would like to launch another shuttle into orbit before the end of this year. The subcommittee also appeared to be in favor of NASAs Project Prometheus, the effort to develop a nuclear engine for next-generation spacecraft. The agency plans to spend $93 million on the project in 2004 and $2.07 billion over five years. OKeefe lobbied the subcommittee hard for the Orbital Space Plane, a new, more flexible vehicle to ferry astronauts into space. NASA has requested $550 million in 2004 to fund research and development.
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