Even before President Barack Obama's budget was revealed, manned space flight supporters in Congress were lining up against the proposals for NASA’s future.
“It turns back the progress that’s been made and replaces it with an intergalactic taxicab for hire,” Congressman Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, said. His 22nd congressional district includes NASA’s Johnson Space Center and parts of Galveston County. He said that the country should not accept second tier status in human spaceflight especially at a time when Russia, China and now India are ramping up their manned spaceflight programs.
India’s space agency last week announced it plans to launch its first manned spaceflight in 2016.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, a former NASA astronaut and whose state is home to the Kennedy Space Center said the administration’s plans risk ceding U.S. leadership in space and was “relying too heavily on unproven commercial companies.”
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, said the proposed budget was the “death march” for U.S. space flight. Alabama is home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
“The president’s proposal to end NASA’s human space flight program is misguided and extremely disappointing,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. “A nation’s global status and dominance has always depended on its leadership in the human exploration of new frontiers.”
Somewhat surprisingly, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison did not release a statement about the NASA budget, although she was critical of the president's overall budget proposal and tax plans. Last week Hutchison did say she would oppose any cuts to manned space flight programs at NASA.
No statement either from Rep. Ron Paul, whose 14th congressional district includes parts of Galveston County.
Olson said he and other members of Texas’ congressional delegation plan to “fight, fight and fight again,” to reverse the administration’s decision.
Some of the lobbying effort of the fight will be done by members of Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, headed by Bob Mitchell. Each year the partnership, which is heavy with NASA contractors including Lockheed-Martin, which has a major chunk of the Constellation program and United Space Alliance which manages the shuttle and space station programs and is a big part of the Ares 1 rocket which was to be the launch vehicle for Constellation — sponsors a group that lobbies Congress to continue and boost NASA’s manned space flight funding.
The group is scheduled to return to Washington in May.
“This trip in my mind is the most important ever,” Mitchel said. “This will be the first time the message will be we don’t support NASA’s stated mission.”
Mitchell said that he expects a six month fight to make sure the funding stays. Meanwhile, Olson said legislation passed last year that was authored by Shelby, says that any changes to the Constellation program must get Congressional approval.
"This is far from over, Congress will have the last word on this," Olson said.
Mitchell and Olson have scheduled a Feb. 17 conference that is supposed to bring the membership of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership and the other chambers of commerce and economic development groups together to map out a strategy to fight the demise of Constellation.
Still, even Nelson acknowledged that with the NASA administrator backing the plan it was unlikely the decision to cancel the Constellation program would be reversed.
But NASA's deputy administrator Lori Garver said that Johnson Space Center and other NASA centers should not be in a panic about the proposal. Sure, Constellation is going away, but she said NASA remains committed to human space exploration.
"As we transition away from the Constellation Program, we are seeking to enable completely new ways of doing business in space exploration," Garver said. "To do this, we will create a number of transformative technology programs, focusing on inventing and demonstrating a myriad of new space exploration capabilities."
And many programs at JSC get a boost under the budget, including the International Space Station which has had its life extended through 2020, a move that even Olson said he fully supported.
Click here to read NASA's proposed budget.More on NASA's proposed budgetMembers of Congress weren't the only ones sounding off on Monday. Below are links to some key statements from various groups concerning the future of NASA's manned space flight operations.
Statement from the Coalition for Space ExplorationStatement from NASA Administrator Charlie BoldenStatement from Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz AldrinWhite House Office of Management and Budget "fact sheet"Memo from Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership President Bob Mitchell to membersStatement from NASA Deputy Administrator Lori GarverHighlights of NASA's proposed budgetListen to NASA's teleconference on the proposed budget
