Calls For $10 Billion In Funds To Continue Flights
A Florida congressman called for an
extra #10 billion in funding to NASA over the next five years, so
the United States can maintain a manned space presence throughout
the development of the agency's next-generation Orion
spacecraft.
Representative Dave Weldon introduced legislation Monday that,
if approved, would keep the space shuttle in operation past the
previously-mandated 2010 retirement date -- which is five years
before NASA expects to fly the first manned Orion mission. NASA
currently plans to purchase seats on Russian spacecraft for US
astronauts bound for the International Space Station during that
gap -- a plan Weldon called "a major foreign policy blunder.
"This is an issue of priorities. It's not an issue of whether
the money is going to be there or not," Weldon said Monday at the
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, according to Florida Today.
"For us to be totally putting the goal of getting our astronauts
into space in the hands of the Russians, I think, is very, very bad
foreign policy."
Despite the nationalistic tone of his comments, Weldon said his
primary motivation is with the planned loss of between 2,500 to
3,500 jobs in his district, which includes KSC, after the shuttle
is retired. Keeping the shuttles in operation -- even in a limited
fashion -- until Orion is ready would give KSC workers "a soft
landing," in the congressman's words.
"I don't want to drive NASA and the KSC work force over a
cliff," Weldon added.
Weldon said NASA could continue to operate the shuttle fleet
past 2010 for about $2 billion a year -- half of what NASA
currently spends. In addition to continuing America's manned
presence in space, he said, missions previously scrapped when the
shuttle's retirement was announced could also be put back on the
table -- including a Japanese-built centrifuge, and the $1.5
billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
Removing the mandatory retirement date -- called for by the
White House in 2003 -- would also give NASA some needed breathing
room to finish construction of the ISS. The agency, already under
the gun to fit in all the needed missions by the September 30, 2010
deadline, is facing additional pressure as the planned launch of
Atlantis this month has been postponed to January 10, at the
earliest.
Weldon says he brings the matter up now, so it can be
front-and-center for presidential candidates ahead of Florida's
January 29 primary. "The timing on this is deliberate," Weldon
said. "This needs to be a national debate."
The congressman's plan remains a tough sell, however, even to
the most vocal NASA supporters. Faced with the task of supporting
war efforts, Congress is reticent to give NASA a penny more than
absolutely necessary. A recent push to add $1 billion to next
year's NASA budget failed, and President Bush has threatened to
veto any bill that adds more than the $17.9 billion now allocated
for the space agency.
Weldon himself says he doubts his legislation will pass.