spacetoday.net: House to vote on Senate NASA bill

Posted: Tue, Sep 28, 2010, 8:04 AM ET (1204 GMT)
US Capitol

House leadership has agreed to vote this week on a version of a NASA authorization bill already passed by the Senate rather than their own version. Congressman Bart Gordon, chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, said in a statement Monday it was more important to pass a bill and remove uncertainty about the agency's future rather than push through its version, which differed from the Senate version on a number of points. Ordinarily, when the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill they meet in a conference committee to work out the differences, but Gordon said there wasn't enough time in this session to go through that process. The legislation authorizes $19 billion for NASA in 2011 and calls on the agency to begin immediate development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle as well as make one more shuttle flight in mid-2011. The bill also authorizes some funding for new exploration technology and commercial crew programs, but not at the same level as requested by the White House. The House is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday. A separate appropriations bill that will actually provide funding will not be considered by Congress until after November's elections.