Politicians On Both Sides Of The Aisle Will Try To Save Jobs In Their States

Members of Congress from states with a large stake in the manned space program are lining up to oppose President Obama's move to scrap the Constellation and Ares programs that it was hoped would have eventually boosted people beyond low earth orbit to the moon and beyond. Congress has already poured $9 billion into the programs to develop a new heavy-lift booster and the Orion crew capsule for continued manned spaceflight.

And this battle is not forming along the normal partisan lines.

Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut, said the President is going to have a fight on his hands when congress gets the budget. "We need a plan that provides America with uninterrupted access to space while also funding exploration to expand the boundaries of our knowledge," Nelson said in a video on his website. Florida stands to lose 7,000 high-tech jobs when the shuttle program ends after 5 more flights.

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)

Texas Republican Congressman Pete Olson told the Washington Post, "This is a crippling blow to America's human spaceflight program."

The NASA budget calls for commercial development of the technology that will continue to make and American manned space program viable. SpaceX founder Elon Musk told the paper that the President was simply being pragmatic about the Constellation program. He said the nation doesn't have the appetite for an Apollo-type program, or the government spending needed to make that happen. SpaceX is one of the companies expected to bid on contracts to develop human space flight in the future.

FMI: www.nasa.gov