An important U.S. Senate subcommittee this morning approved a $19 billion spending plan for NASA in 2011 that closely mirrors compromise legislation policymakers approved last week.
The Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies subcommittee chaired by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., recommended the legislation for a full committee vote expected at 2 p.m. Thursday.
A summary of the bill's 2011 highlights say it "restructures" NASA's human spaceflight program, including:
-- Plans to add one more shuttle flight to the two remaining if an independent panel deems it safe. The program would spend $1.6 billion next year.
-- Another $3 billion for development of a heavy-lift rocket and exploration vehicle.
-- Support for "the burgeoning commercial space industry" and investment in new technology development. Funding totals weren't immediately available -- the bill won't be publicly released until after passage by the full committee.
Representatives for Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said the appropriations bill "pretty much tracks" the NASA reauthorization bill Nelson helped shepherd through the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee last week.
Hours before the full Senate appropriations committee meets Thursday, the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology will gather to consider its own NASA legislation, which has goals more aligned with a continuation of the Constellation program. House appropriators will review whatever the committee approves.
Space news and analysis from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral 
11 comments:
So how is this going to impact Brevard? Better than the previously expected?
"Representative's"???? Surely you can do better than that. Learn when NOT to use an apostrophe!!!
The 19 Billion is govt program that helps only a few.
It makes filthy rich Defense Contractors even more filthy rich.
The 19 Billion should have been used for Universal Health Care. We are already giving Israel over 30 Billion a year to provide Health Care to their citizens. It's about time we used our money wisely.
This is a SCAM
Screw universal healthcare, that has nothing to do with this. Well maybe it does, a bad economy can't pay for any kind of healhcare.
Scam is a block head obviously.
That last poster must be a welfare case who can't get in the gate at the Space Center. Obango will abuse the Executive branch and knock this down any way. He gotz "plans" for that cash and they don't include men in space.
keeps my boys in a job.......for a while anyway!
If the House passes a funding bill something like their Science and Technology Committee (including central FL Reps. Kosmas and Grayson) voted out yesterday, then the House and Senate will have to reconcile their NASA budget bills, because the two are very different. While both de-emphasize throwing money at the "private sector" to launch U.S. astronauts, the House bill is better in that it funds Ares I / Orion "crew vehicle" as the U.S. post-shuttle space access system -- something many of us have been fighting for a long time, for a dozen good reasons.
2:55 poster: Pretty much says it all! Majority of tax payers who are tasked to fund this monstrosity are not permitted to "get into the gate" or in other way observe what is happening to their taxes!
5:21 poster: Think you'd have any better luck walking into the Pentagon to "observe what is happening to your taxes" there? Some people have no clue.
>That last poster must be a welfare case who can't get
>in the gate at the Space Center. Obango will abuse
> the Executive branch and knock this down any way.
>He gotz "plans" for that cash and they don't include
>men in space
Funny we pretend it's not about racism, yet the above poster pretends to speak some black dialect to make fun of our duly elected president, a black man who speaks better then 99% of the white men in this country. Racism always shows its true colors. I guess Bush with the war in Iran, or Reagan with Contragate didn’t have an agenda of their own.
Post a Comment