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Wednesday’s CSExtra features the latest reporting and commentary on the policy debate in Washington over a NASA road map. The latest reports examine the differences among the House Science and Technology Committee authorization bill unveiled late Monday, the Senate version that passed the Commerce, Science and Technology Committee on July 15 and the White House version proposed as part of the 2011 budget in February. More compromise in the coming weeks appears likely. Meanwhile, House and Senate appropriation measures for NASA are also pending.
1. From the Orlando Sentinel: NASA’s Senate Appropriators, led by U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, meet Wednesday poised to back much of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation authorization plan hammered out on July 15. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/2010/07/nasa-compromise-holds-for-now.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+news%2Fspace%2Fspace_blog+%28Space+Blog+The+Write+Stuff%29
A. From Space News: The new House version of the NASA authorization bill, unveiled late Monday, reduces the President’s five-year, $6 billion commercial space initiative to $250 million and the promise of $500 million in loans and loan guarantees. It also directs NASA to re-structure nearly $10 billion in Constellation Program investments for the development of a fast track heavy lift rocket and a crew capsule for deep space exploration. The Senate version directs $1.3 billion over three years to the commercial initiative.
http://www.spacenews.com/policy/100720-house-nasa-bill-brakes-commercial.html
B. From the New York Times: One expert, Douglas O. Stanley of Georgia Tech, calls the House plan to extend loans or loan guarantees to the commercial transportation sector “innovative” and a possible means of extending more money to the commercial realm at less cost to NASA.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/science/space/21nasa.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=NASA&st=cse
C. From Florida Today: The newspaper sees significant differences among the House, Senate and White House blueprints for NASA. The new House would restructure much of Constellation, and it would dismantle the White House’s $6 billion, five year commercial space transportation initiative. The Senate committed $1.3 billion over three years. The House proposes $750 million over five years, much of it fashioned as loans or loan guarantees.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100721/NEWS02/7210336/House-sets-its-course-for-NASA
D. From NASAwatch.com: Neil Armstrong, James Lovell and Gene Cernan express support for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s NASA authorization measure as well as the new House Science and Technology Committee bill in a letter. The letter was addressed to U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-MD, who chairs NASA’s Senate appropriations subcommittee, and Richard Shelby, R-AL, the appropriation panel’s ranking Republican.
http://nasawatch.com/archives/2010/07/letter-armstron.html
E. From the Houston Chronicle: U.S. Rep Pete Olson, a Republican whose district includes NASA’s Johnson Space Center, believes the bi-partisan efforts in the Senate and House to forge a blueprint for NASA will win eventual Presidential approval. “Help is on the way,” Olson says to those at NASA buffeted by the uncertainty.
http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2010/07/congress_to_nasa_help_is_on_the_way.html
F. Also from the Houston Chronicle: Jeff Moseley, President of the Greater Houston Partnership, and economic development group, terms the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s NASA Authorization bill the win-win plan the White House and Congress have been striving for.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7117177.html
G. From Spacepolicyonline.com: The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee posts a finished version of its authorization bill on the Internet late Tuesday, with the amendments from the panel’s July 15 meeting.
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=20a7a8bd-50f4-4474-bf1d-f0a6a8824b01
2. From This Week in Space with Miles O’Brien and Spaceflightnow: Miles O’Brien pursues a space detente theme, on Washington policy making as well as in space. The show summarizes the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation committee authorization measure. It also notes that NASA marked the 35th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz mission last week. The surviving astronaut/cosmonaut participants gathered in New York at an Omega watch boutique to celebrate their accomplishments and their legacy; the International Space Station.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/twis/
3. From Spacepolicyonline.com: A brief commentary by Marcia Smith on the 41st anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. NASA managed to reach the moon in eight years, yet policy makers haven’t been able to agree in 40 years where to head for next.
http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/pages/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1036:commentary-another-apollo-11-anniversary-will-we-go-back&catid=67:news&Itemid=27
4. From Space.com: SpaceShipTwo could make its first piloted drop test this fall.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/missionlaunches/virgin-galactic-spaceshiptwo-fall-test-flight-100720.html
5. From the Wall Street Journal: Recent news reports of record temperatures in 2010 are alarmist and unfounded, according to an op-ed from Kyle Gillis of the Media Research Center.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703724104575379313351584040.html?KEYWORDS=NASA
6. From Spaceflightnow.com: NASA and the European Space Agency forge plans for a 2018 mission to gather Martian soil samples and return them to Earth over a series of additional missions.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/20sample/
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