Senate bill sets stage for human deep space exploration Photo Credit/NASA
Though nearing an August recess, the full U. S. Senate on Thursday (Aug. 5) passed the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, which seeks to strike a compromise with the White House over the space agency’s future direction.
The House, which is already in recess, has yet to pass an authorization measure which serves as a roadmap for actual appropriations as well as program directions.
The Senate’s bill matches the White House strategy for overall NASA spending for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 at $19 billion, $19.45 billion and $19.96 billion. However, there are key differences.
Among the most significant is direction from the Senate for NASA to develop a heavy lift rocket and a multi purpose crew vehicle that could be ready for human deep space missions by the end of 2016, a decade ahead of the White House budget blue print.
The Senate measure points NASA toward missions to the moon, near Earth asteroids and Mars. The White House bill seeks to cancel NASA’s back to the moon Constellation Program, while concentrating on the development of commercial crew transportation services to low Earth orbit and missions to an asteroid and Mars in the 2025 to 2035 time frame.
The Senate measure adds a shuttle mission in the mid-2011 time frame. Currently, the shuttle is slated for retirement following missions in November and late February.
Both the White House and Senate favor an extension of International Space Station operations from 2016 to at least 2020. The two measures call for an expansion of NASA’s work with other countries in the robotic and human exploration of space.
A major feature of the White House initiative was a five-year investment in the development of commercial crew space transportation services, with a total spending of $5.8 billion envisioned over the next five years.
The Senate measure would invest $1.3 billion over the next three years. The White House version commits $3.3 billion over the same three-year period.
The House authorization bill, authored by the House Science and Technology Committee, envisions just $450 million for commercial crew space transportation development. That total includes $150 million in direct spending and the rest in a loan and loan guarantee strategy or perhaps a grant arrangement.
The House bill essentially lends Constellation new life. The Senate version urges NASA to move forward with its exploration efforts using the Constellation contractors to the greatest extent possible.
The Senate bill appears to have bi-partisan support.
“The bill offers a blueprint to move America’s civilian space program forward in a smart, fiscally responsible way,” said U. S. Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W. Va., the chairman of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
“Senate passage of this compromise legislation is a critical milestone that will boost America’s human space flight program,” added U. S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, of Texas, the committee’s ranking Republican. “By enhancing the bi-partisan vision for the future of NASA, the Senate has spoken with a unified voice.”