The Senate approved by unanimous consent yesterday the compromise version of the NASA authorization legislation (S. 1281) hashed out last week in conference and approved Saturday by the House. The bill had been held in the Senate for several days by Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO), reportedly over hypersonics research funding; the Reuters article linked to above doesn’t mention the hold or how it was resolved. The bill now goes to the president for his signature.
A pity they didn’t ammend to require a return to the original foam on the external tank.