As you may recall, last week The Mars Society went to battle stations in response to a provision in a House appropriations bill that would prevent NASA from spending any money on programs directly associated with the human exploration of Mars. In a less hyperbolic followup this week, the organization reports that its members have sent “almost 400″ faxes and made “numerous” phone calls to members of Congress asking them to remove that provision in the bill. The Mars Society’s goal is 1,000 faxes in the next couple of weeks, around the time the full House Appropriations Committee is expected to take up the spending bill.
And just maybe all that activity had, according to the FederalTimes.com, the effect that:
Unlike the House bill, the Senate version does not include language blocking NASA from pursuing exploration of Mars.
“cIclops”: as has been previously noted here, the most likely reason the House version of the legislation includes that provision is to preclude an effort like one last year by Congressman Frank that could (unintentionally or otherwise) be more inclusive in its prohibition. There’s no sign of that strong a level of opposition to Mars exploration in the Senate.
Coincidence does not demonstrate causality.