Bill Must Still Pass Senate Muster

A $29 billion relief bill passed by the US House of Representatives Monday, to fund rebuilding efforts in the hurricane-ravaged states along the US Gulf Coast, also contains $350 million to repair damage incurred to NASA facilities in the wrath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

According to Reuters, the hurricane funds -- $10 billion more than President Bush had requested -- were attached to an unrelated defense spending bill that has not yet been approved by the Senate.

In fact, a tougher-than-average fight for passage is expected in that chamber, because of opposition to another provision attached that would open a portion of Alaska's Arctic Natural Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) to oil drilling -- something that has proven to be a bill-killer in the past.

As was reported earlier this month in Aero-News, NASA had asked for as much as $760 million in funding to repair damage to the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility outside New Orleans -- where the shuttle's external fuel tank is built -- and the similarly stricken Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The Office of Management and Budget had countered with $325 million.

NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX also suffered damage in Hurricane Rita, although most of it was minor.

The lower sum might mean NASA will have to dip into its 2006 operating budget to make the needed repairs -- and with the costs of maintaining the shuttle program in addition to beginning development on NASA's next-generation family of space vehicles, it's not as though there was money to spare.

As of now, however, the agency can't even count on the $350 million.

FMI: www.nasa.gov