The House passed very early Monday a defense spending bill, attached to which was $29 billion in Hurricane Katrina relief spending. That includes $350 million for NASA to begin repairs at the Michoud Assembly Facility and Stennis Space Center. The OMB had asked for $325 million for such efforts in its FY2006 reallocation package request back in October. However, NASA had originally requested $760 million, and some state legislatures, as well as the Aerospace Industries Association, fought to try and get the full amount funded. “It is vital that Congress addresses the need to repair these two facilities because of their importance to our space program,” the AIA’s John Douglass said earlier this month. “We cannot continue the nation’s international leadership in space exploration when hampered by facilities that are not operating at 100 percent.”
