2010 Deadline Extended If Approved... But That's A Big 'If'

NASA may soon be granted some breathing room in its quest to wrap up all space shuttle missions by September 2010. A bill now under consideration in the House of Representatives would put three additional shuttle missions on the space agency's schedule, and would remove the hard deadline for all flights to be completed.

Florida Today reports that approval is part of a $20.2 billion budget for NASA in FY2009, an increase of $2.6 billion over the current White House recommendation. The bill passed the House Science and Technology Committees Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee on Wednesday, and could come to a full vote within a few weeks.

Under the House bill, two shuttle flights to the International Space Station -- now listed as contingency flights -- would be finalized. A third flight would deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer; that mission was dropped by NASA after the February 2003 loss of Columbia.

"This bill essentially says we're done when we're done," said Florida Congressman Tom Feeney, who sponsored the bill with committee chairman Mark Udall. (Ironically, Udall was unable to make the vote on the bill, due to a delayed flight.)

The legislation faces an uphill battle, however. To date, Congress has not approved a single non-war-related spending bill for the year, as lawmakers wait for the November election to determine the next presidential administration.

Feeney notes the new reauthorization plan for NASA isn't a hard-and-fast determination for how NASA spends its money for the next few years, but merely a blueprint the next administration may take into consideration.

"It would be foolish to try to pass a bill that would go deep into the next administration when, candidly, none of the candidates have said a whole lot of detailed stuff about space," Feeney said.

The reauthorization measure "sends a message to Congress and the next president that NASA is a national resource that is worthy of our strong support," Udall added.

The House plan would also approve about $1 billion for development of NASA's Constellation manned space program, which will ultimately replace the space shuttle.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, http://science.house.gov/