Senate committee approves NASA authorization bill
Posted: Fri, Jul 16, 2010, 7:13 AM ET (1113 GMT)
A US Senate committee unanimously approved Thursday a NASA authorization bill that represents a compromise between the White House and advocates of NASA's existing exploration plans. The authorization act would end development of the Ares launch vehicles but direct NASA to begin immediate development of a new heavy-lift launcher that would draw upon Shuttle and Ares heritage, and not wait for five years as proposed by the administration. The authorization bill supports commercial crew and technology development programs, although not at the same level as in the NASA budget request. The bill also authorizes an additional shuttle mission, using hardware developed for the "launch on need" rescue shuttle mission. The legislation was hailed by both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Commerce Committee, which approved the bill during a brief session Thursday morning. The bill does not itself provide NASA with any funding but instead authorizes such expenditures; a separate appropriations bill will be taken up by another committee next week.
A US Senate committee unanimously approved Thursday a NASA authorization bill that represents a compromise between the White House and advocates of NASA's existing exploration plans. The authorization act would end development of the Ares launch vehicles but direct NASA to begin immediate development of a new heavy-lift launcher that would draw upon Shuttle and Ares heritage, and not wait for five years as proposed by the administration. The authorization bill supports commercial crew and technology development programs, although not at the same level as in the NASA budget request. The bill also authorizes an additional shuttle mission, using hardware developed for the "launch on need" rescue shuttle mission. The legislation was hailed by both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Commerce Committee, which approved the bill during a brief session Thursday morning. The bill does not itself provide NASA with any funding but instead authorizes such expenditures; a separate appropriations bill will be taken up by another committee next week.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Monday, January 19
Proba-3: our eyes on the Sun’s inner corona
ESA — 6:10 am ET (1110 GMT) SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 9 rocket into low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral
WESH-TV Orlando — 6:07 am ET (1107 GMT) Small businesses in Higashiosaka launch crowdfunding campaign for lunar exploration robot
Independent Online — 6:06 am ET (1106 GMT) Polish Lawmakers Request Military to Establish Suborbital Spaceport
Militarnyi — 6:03 am ET (1103 GMT) ISRO was set to move on to a new era. PSLV failure has stalled India’s space policy
ThePrint (India) — 6:00 am ET (1100 GMT) |
