Senate offers cautious support for new Bush space plan
Posted: Sun, Feb 1, 2004, 9:19 AM ET (1419 GMT)
Members of the US Senate expressed some support for, but remained skeptical of, the new Bush space initiative during a recent hearing. The hearing, held by the Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday, gave Congress its first opportunity to question NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe about the plan, unveiled by the president on January 14. Committee chairman John McCain (R-AZ), who has criticized the president for naming a Lockheed Martin director to chair a committee to review the implementation of the plan, said he was concerned that the $12 billion allocated to the plan over the next five years falls "far, far short" of the total needed to carry out the plan. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), ranking Democrat on the committee's space subcommittee, also expressed concerns about the president's support for the plan, noting that the president did not mention it during his State of the Union address a week earlier. O'Keefe responded that the president was providing all the support NASA needed for the plan. O'Keefe also used the hearing to announce that the project to develop a Crew Expedition Vehicle (CEV), a key part of the new initiative, would be known as Project Constellation.
Members of the US Senate expressed some support for, but remained skeptical of, the new Bush space initiative during a recent hearing. The hearing, held by the Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday, gave Congress its first opportunity to question NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe about the plan, unveiled by the president on January 14. Committee chairman John McCain (R-AZ), who has criticized the president for naming a Lockheed Martin director to chair a committee to review the implementation of the plan, said he was concerned that the $12 billion allocated to the plan over the next five years falls "far, far short" of the total needed to carry out the plan. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), ranking Democrat on the committee's space subcommittee, also expressed concerns about the president's support for the plan, noting that the president did not mention it during his State of the Union address a week earlier. O'Keefe responded that the president was providing all the support NASA needed for the plan. O'Keefe also used the hearing to announce that the project to develop a Crew Expedition Vehicle (CEV), a key part of the new initiative, would be known as Project Constellation.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, March 13
How Rocket Lab Is Powering a Stratospheric Rise In The Space Race
Maxim — 6:12 am ET (1012 GMT) Airbus Awards Rocket Lab Contract to Power Next-Gen OneWeb Constellation for Eutelsat
Business Wire — 6:10 am ET (1010 GMT) Rocket Lab To Buy Laser Comms Maker Mynaric
Aviation Week — 6:10 am ET (1010 GMT) Rocket Lab buys laser communications firm Mynaric for US$75m
New Zealand Herald — 6:09 am ET (1009 GMT) Richard Branson wants to launch space tourist flights from the UK, with Cornish spaceport lined up
LBC — 6:08 am ET (1008 GMT) |
