By Jeff Foust on 2008 October 1 at 7:36 am ET “Flying in the teeth of White House opposition, the space agency’s congressional supporters have apparently guaranteed a 15 percent budget increase by appending the proposal to a spending measure necessary to keep the government running.” So begins an editorial in today’s Houston Chronicle, congratulating Congress for having “done its part by providing the money” for NASA. The problem is, it doesn’t appear Congress has done anything like what the newspaper thinks it’s done.
The editorial, as well as an article yesterday, claim that Congress has given NASA a 15 percent budget increase by tucking the money into the continuing resolution legislation that the president signed into law yesterday. First, there is no sign of that money in HR 2638, which funds agencies like NASA at FY 2008 levels until early March (or until the passage of an FY09 appropriations bill, whichever comes first); there is an extra $30 million for NASA, but that is for disaster relief. Second, it appears the Chronicle is confusing it with the NASA authorization bill that Congress passed last week, which authorizes $20.2 billion for NASA in FY09, but does not appropriate any funding. (Yesterday’s article does note that the bill “authorizes spending $20.2 billion next year”, but the editorial does not make that distinction.) Contrary to what the Chronicle thinks, Congress has not yet done its part to increase NASA’s funding for FY2009.
By Jeff Foust on 2008 September 30 at 7:15 am ET During Friday night’s presidential debate, Barack Obama made a passing reference to the Shenzhou 7 mission that was in progress at the time:
The third thing we have to do is we’ve got to make sure that we’re competing in education. We’ve got to invest in science and technology. China had a space launch and a space walk. We’ve got to make sure that our children are keeping pace in math and in science.
(One quibble: the spacewalk actually took place after the debate, not before it, as the comment suggests.) John McCain, though, a short time later, took aim at a bigger issue: the use of cost-plus contracts:
I think that we have to return — particularly in defense spending, which is the largest part of our appropriations — we have to do away with cost-plus contracts. We now have defense systems that the costs are completely out of control… So we need to have fixed-cost contracts.
The comment was made in regards to defense spending, but McCain’s disdain for such contracts would presumably extend to NASA as well. While this comment has raised a few eyebrows, it’s not that surprising: in his national security policy, McCain has a section devoted to “Smarter Defense Spending” that includes the following:
John McCain has worked aggressively to reform the defense budgeting process to ensure that America enjoys the best military at the best cost. This includes reforming defense procurement to ensure the faithful and efficient expenditure of taxpayer dollars that are made available for defense acquisition. Too often, parochial interests – rather than the national interest – have guided our spending decisions. John McCain supports significant reform in our defense acquisition process to ensure that dollars spent actually contribute to U.S. security.
That doesn’t specifically mention cost-plus contracts, but one can see how his opposition to cost-plus contracts fits into this philosophy. It’s also not surprising among those defense contractors who have done battle with McCain over the years in the Senate on these issues.
By Jeff Foust on 2008 September 30 at 6:55 am ET While most people have been preoccupied with financial bailout packages, the Senate found the time Saturday to approve HR 2638, a continiung resolution (CR) that will fund many federal agencies, including NASA, at FY 2008 levels though early March. Like the version the House approved Wednesday, the Senate version includes language that will extend NASA’s Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA) waiver for both Soyuz and Progress services until July 2016. Since this bill will almost certainly be signed by the president, it negates the need for separate legislation, like S. 3103, to provide a more qualified version of the extension. The Senate approved the CR on a 78-12 vote.
Another part of the same bill is the “Disaster Relief and Recovery Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008″. Tucked into there is an additional $30 million for NASA “for necessary expenses for restoration and mitigation of National Aeronautics and Space Administration owned infrastructure and facilities related to the consequences of hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters occuring during 2008″.
By Jeff Foust on 2008 September 27 at 7:54 pm ET The House Saturday afternoon approved by voice vote the Senate version of HR 6063, the NASA authorization bill for fiscal year 2009 that the Senate passed Thursday night.
The House Science and Technology Committee press release about the bill linked to above mentions a couple of key differences between this final version and the version the House overwhelmingly approved in June. Among them is a prohibition against NASA taking any steps before the end of April 2009 “that would preclude the President from being able to continue to fly the Space Shuttle past 2010 if he and Congress decided to do so.” This is similar to what John McCain and two other senators requested of the administration last month, with the difference being that they asked for a one-year delay, while this is closer to seven months.
Another difference: the final version does not contain a provision in the original House version that would have directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy to carry out a study of the effect of current export control policies on civil and commercial space efforts. Committee chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), in the committee statement, said he was “disappointed” the provision was dropped, but provided no details why it was excluded from the final version of the bill. “But I believe that there is likely to be movement on this important issue once the next Administration takes office,” he added.
The bill now goes to the White House for the president’s signature. Will he sign it? Recall back in June that the Office of Management and Budget issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) strongly critical of the House version of the bill, in particular citing clauses that made two “contingency” shuttle logistical flights part of the manifest (although, in fact, they pretty much already were), as well as an additional mission to fly the AMS instrument to the station. Those provisions remain in the final version of the bill; however, while the SAP stated that the administration “strongly opposed” the bill, it did not overtly threaten a veto.
By Jeff Foust on 2008 September 26 at 7:28 am ET An editorial in today’s New York Times endorses efforts to extend NASA’s Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA) waiver in Congress. The editorial argues, in effect, the members of Congress upset with Russia’s behavior in recent months, including its invasion of Georgia, should accept a waiver extension that is in “the clear interest of this country”. The editorial also rejects arguments that extending the shuttle is an alternative, noting that the orbiters can only remain docked to the station for a couple weeks at a time. “The shuttle program’s future is a separate argument that will need to be resolved by the next administration and Congress,” the editorial concludes. “The waiver needs to be extended right now. The House did so on Wednesday. The Senate needs to do the same before it adjourns.”
By Jeff Foust on 2008 September 26 at 7:21 am ET As Congress grapples with a financial bailout bill valued at as much as $700 billion, it’s little wonder that a $56-billion stimulus package announced Thursday didn’t get much attention. However, the Reid/Byrd Economic Recovery Act of 2008, named after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert C. Byrd, has a little bit of something for a lot of agencies, including NASA:
NASA. The bill provides $250 million for NASA to help shorten the projected 5-year gap between the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2010 and the availability of the new U.S. space vehicle in 2015. During this gap, the only way U.S. astronauts will be able to access space will be aboard Russian vehicles.
Every little bit helps, although $250 million won’t itself reduce the Shuttle-Constellation gap by very much.
Update 1pm: Well, that was fast: Senate Republicans have blocked the proposed stimulus bill, with a motion to proceed on the bill falling 8 votes short of the 60 needed to avoid a filibuster. Moreover, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy on the bill this morning in opposition of the bill. “If this bill were presented to the President, he would veto the bill,” it concludes (emphasis in original). So don’t count on that $250 million…
By Jeff Foust on 2008 September 26 at 7:14 am ET Last night the Senate approved its version of the NASA Authorization Act of 2008 by unanimous consent. The differences between the Senate version of HR 6063 and the version the House approved this summer are said to be minor and should not be a problem to reconcile. The key elements of the bill remain unchanged, including requiring NASA to take “all necessary steps” to fly an additional shuttle flight to send the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer instrument to the ISS.
By Jeff Foust on 2008 September 26 at 7:04 am ET In the final days of the 110th Congress, Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL) introduced legislation Thursday to try and close the Shuttle-Constellation gap. The “ISS GAP FILLER Act”, HR 7062 (full text not yet online), takes a multipronged approach to dealing with the issue, including authorizing over $3 billion a year in fiscal years 2010 through 2012 for shuttle operations and a one-time $2-billion authorization for accelerating Constellation. The bill would also create what sounds a lot like a COTS Capability D effort: “at least two private entities will propose rapid development and prototyping of a spacecraft that provides crew transfer and rescue services to the International Space Station.” In addition, the bill would direct NASA to begin negotiations with ESA to develop a human-rated version of Europe’s ATV cargo spacecraft.
“After reviewing all proposals,” the Feeney release states,
the NASA Administrator will select a course of action that best provides crew transfer and rescue services to the International Space Station. $575 million is authorized over three years for developing such access. If a vehicle is successfully demonstrated, NASA would contract with that entity – and not Russia – to transport American astronauts.” The bill would also extend NASA’s INSKNA waiver in a manner similar to S. 3103, but the House has already passed a more expansive waiver.
The odds of this bill making it through Congress—or even get a hearing—are effectively zero at this point in the session, even if Congress wasn’t already wrapped up in contentious debates about financial bailouts. Also, the authorizations included in the bill carry little meaning unless they’re backed up with corresponding appropriations, something that would be difficult to win approval for. Why introduce it now? Perhaps to set the stage for introducing something similar early in the next Congress. Also, it doesn’t hurt to look like you’re doing something to address a major issue to your constituents (Feeney’s district, of course, includes much of the Space Coast) when you’re locked in a major reelection fight.
By Jeff Foust on 2008 September 24 at 6:10 pm ET While the Senate works the try and get its version of an INKSNA extension passed, the House has managed, very quietly, to do the same thing. Earlier today the House passed by a vote of 370-58 HR 2638, a bill originally intended to be a Homeland Security appropriations bill but has since been renamed the “Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009″. The bill provides funding to many government agencies, including NASA, at FY 2008 levels to March 6, 2009. Embedded within this continuing resolution, though, is this provision: “SEC. 125. Section 7(1)(B) of Public Law 106-178 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended by striking ‘January 1, 2012′ and inserting ‘July 1, 2016′.” What that cryptic language does is extend NASA’s existing waiver under INKSNA until July 2016.
One key difference between this extension and the one being considered in the Senate, as Space News notes, is that the house version would extend the waiver as is, allowing NASA to continue to purchase both Soyuz and Progress vehicles, while the Senate version would extend the waiver only for Soyuz purchases. For the record, Congressman Dave Weldon (R-FL), who has been leading the push against the INKSNA waiver extension, was one of the 58 who voted against the bill, although it’s not clear how big a role the extension provision played in his decision to vote against the bill.
By Jeff Foust on 2008 September 24 at 7:37 am ET The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved Tuesday legislation that would extend NASA’s existing waiver under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA), allowing it to continue to purchase Soyuz spacecraft from Russia. The approval is a key but only an initial step to get the bill through Congress. The bill still has to make it through the Senate by unanimous consent, where even a single objection could stop the bill. No senator has stepped forward publicly in opposition to the bill, but Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) told Florida Today that “we’ve got a couple in the Senate that we have to worry about”, without naming any names.
One member of the House that is opposed to the bill, Dave Weldon (R-FL), appears to be offering a compromise that would ease the bill’s passage through Congress. That compromise would involve a short-term extension of the waiver (the current bill, S. 3103, would extend the waiver for Soyuz purchases until either Orion or a commercial vehicle becomes available) while also extending the life of the shuttle beyond 2010. “This is in the discussion phase, so stay tuned,” Weldon told Florida Today.
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