The $59 billion war spending bill Congress approved this week includes a provision that prevents NASA from cancelling any Constellation program contracts in the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
The paragraph in a 92-page package of Senate amendments reaffirms previous congressional direction saying NASA must have approval before ditching Constellation, as President Obama's 2011 budget proposes to do.
The Senate approved the amendment's language in May, according to SpacePolicyOnline.
That was well before this month's passage by Senate authorization and appropriations committees of NASA legislation for the 2011 fiscal year that would keep parts of Constellation while incorporating the president's desire to fund commercially rockets and spacecraft.
Those bills and a House version more supportive of Constellation must clear several more steps before NASA finally receives new direction and funding.
Here's the NASA language in the fiscal year 2010 supplemental appropriations bill:
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
EXPLORATION
The matter contained in title III of division B of Public Law 111–117 regarding "National Aeronautics and Space Administration Exploration" is amended by inserting at the end of the last proviso ": Provided further, that notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation, funds made available for Constellation in fiscal year 2010 for 'National Aeronautics and Space Administration Exploration' and from previous appropriations for 'National Aeronautics and Space Administration Exploration' shall be available to fund continued performance of Constellation contracts, and performance of such Constellation contracts may not be terminated for convenience by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in fiscal year 2010."
Space news and analysis from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral 
5 comments:
Huh???
NASA = GLORIFIED SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAM.
Defense Contractors are breaking the country and need to be stopped.
Defense Contractors bleeding the country dry like a parasite should be looked upon as if they were worse than terrorist.
WHO put the NASA language into a Defense bill? Which Senator from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana or Texas?? I will predict we, the American voter, will never know! Its like a tort lawyer slipping some fine print about "policy is void if you die in an automobile accident on a weekend" into your life insurance policy.
Yeah I guess you people don't get the fact that the space program protects you as well, that's why ist's in there. Wake up!!
The Bush administration cancelled the Shuttle program, a disaster for our community and our space program. Constellation will ship all our jobs to Utah and Alabama. But our political leaders praised Bush's fantasies and sacrificed our futures.
Obama canceled Constellation and put the resources into companies with practical new ideas to actually reduce the cost of human spaceflight, and bring new launches and new jobs in R&D here,
But Constellation supporters refused to follow orders and countermanded the President. This bill is an attempt by lobbyists and political leaders in other states to steal from our future, and we need to fight it.
Obama is trying to drag NASA into the future, to get it to provide practical benefits for America.
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