A spending bill that includes $17.9 billion for NASA has passed the Senate and is headed for reconciliation with a House version. Members of Congress hope the bill will be passed and signed by Nov 18.
What are the main differences between the Senate and House versions?
The Senate version provides just more than $1 billion more for NASA than does the House bill, $17.9 billion vs. $16.81 billion. In addition the Senate bill funds the James Webb Space Telescope at $530 million. The House canceled the telescope project entirely. Finally, the Senate funds the NASA commercial crew program at $500 million as opposed to $312 million in the House version.
Why did the Senate fund the James Webb Telescope that the House canceled?
The JWST would be a great scientific instrument, particularly for imaging Earth-like worlds orbiting other stars. Not coincidentally, the project would be managed by the Space Telescope Institute at NASA's Goddard Research Center. NASA Goddard is in Maryland, the home state of Sen. Barbara Mikulski, chair of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA funding. The continued life of the project would create a great number of jobs in Mikulski's state while it is making all of those discoveries. The JWST will also cause delays and shortfalls for other as-yet unspecified NASA science missions.
What about the Space Launch System and the Orion Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle?
Each receives full funding, much as they did in the House bill. The SLS and the Orion are part of the space exploration program that enjoys a great deal of support in Congress. Thus they enjoy highest priority when it comes to funding, even in these fiscally difficult times.
What will be the effect of the commercial crew funding?
Obama administration officials have been hinting that any funding level below the $850 million it has requested will cause NASA to have to reassess and perhaps revamp the commercial crew program. One option would be to concentrate funding to one or perhaps two possible vendors instead of the four currently receiving subsidies. But a recent hearing of the House Science Committee revealed the utility of the commercial crew program suffers from grave skepticism in Congress. Most members of Congress will not mind if fewer commercial companies get NASA subsidies than are currently. Commercial crew is an Obama administration priority, not a congressional one.
Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times and The Weekly Standard.
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