On Saturday DarkSyde posted a diary Don't take chances with NASA which encouraged us to contact Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to ask that Senate Bill 3729 (NASA Authorization Act) be brought to the floor for an up or down vote before the House recesses for the November elections.
On Monday, Science Committee chair Bart Gordon issued a statement that included this:
"I anticipate that the House will consider the Senate version of the NASA reauthorization on Wednesday."
With respect to Wednesday's expected vote on S3729, Deputy NASA Administrator Lori Garver tweeted this:
Proof that Congress is making progress on a robust future space program, tracking the vision outlined by the President
Follow me over the fold for an in-depth explanation of where we are on NASA policy and where I believe we need to go.
Senate Authorization Bill S3729
Here is a link to S3729 on THOMAS
On July 15, 2010 the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved compromise legislation that incorporated many but not all of the budget proposals made by the Obama Administration on February 1, 2010. On August 5, 2010 the entire Senate passed S3729 by unanimous consent.
Yes, you read that right - a Senate that probably couldn't agree to recite the Pledge of Allegiance unanimously, enacted a NASA Authorization bill by unanimous consent.
Senator Jay Rockefeller had this to say:
"This bill offers a blueprint to move America’s civilian space program forward in a smart, fiscally responsible way," Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said in a statement. "We’ve had to take a clear, hard look at what we want from NASA in the years and decades to come. We’ve asked the tough questions. The result is a truly bipartisan bill that will help refocus and reinvigorate the agency, while making key investments in aeronautics, science, and education. I’m proud the Senate has moved it one step closer to becoming law."
Ever since August 5, 2010 the White House and top NASA administrators have been expressing their support for the Senate bill, albeit more with whispers than shouts.
Thus far, however, the House has not gone along with the Senate compromise.
House Authorization Bill HR5781
Here is a link to HR5781 on THOMAS
The original House Authorization bill appeared to embrace the Constellation program established by Dr. Michael Griffin during his tenure under George W. Bush. As of today, Constellation is the official "Program of Record" (POR) at NASA and will remain the POR until Congress and the President direct otherwise, through legislation such as the Senate bill.
Back in July and August, space advocates campaigned to prevent a floor vote on HR5781. See for example, this diary by DarkSyde titled Grudge Match, a diary that brought up the impending collision between S3729 and HR 5781.
On September 10, 2010 Dark Syde offered another diary Kill the Bill to advocate against passing HR5781.
On September 23, 2010 Science Committee Chair Bart Gordon introduced a substantial amendment to HR5781 that brought it much closer to the Senate version.
This thread at nasaspaceflight dot com contains many attachments that do side by side comparisons of the amended House bill, the original House bill and the Senate bill. Space policy wonks can deep deep into these materials. Jeff Foust's Space Politics blog also discusses the September 23rd House compromise bill.
As Jeff Foust noted a few days later, this House "compromise" was not well received in his post "No Love for House Compromise Bill" and to shorten an already long story, the Senate has basically said they are not negotiating further.
And thus, it appears that the Senate bill S3729 will come to the House floor tomorrow, although to the best of my knowledge, it hasn't been placed on any specific agenda.
Mike Griffin makes a last gasp effort to save his Constellation program
From an email obtained by Space Policy Online:
Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin disagrees with Rep. Bart Gordon that a flawed NASA authorization bill is better than no bill at all. In an email, Dr. Griffin argues that although the Senate bill is somewhat better than the Obama Administration's plan for NASA, "it is not enough better to warrant its support in law."
His bottom line is that "If we cannot do better than that, then I believe we have reached the point where it is better to allow the damage which has been brought about by the administration's actions to play out to its conclusion than to accept half-measures in an attempt at remediation."
Mike Griffin (NASA Administrator under George W. Bush) opposes the Senate bill as he holds out hope of returning to the program he was developing as NASA Administrator. Frankly (IMHO) Constellation is an unaffordable and un-executable program, for many reasons.
Why I believe Congress should enact S3729
It appears substantial legwork work has been done behind the scenes and therefore if the key players from both parties agree, S3729 can be brought to the House floor and voted on is less than ten minutes. I believe we should encourage that to happen.
If this doesn't happen, NASA will be placed in limbo when we go into the continuing resolution on October 1st. discredited Constellation program will remain the "Program of Record" and we will head into the elections without clear guidance from Congress for the NASA Administration.
As Democrats are the party in power (controlling the House, Senate and White House) an inability to resolve issues such as NASA policy would not reflect well on our party as a whole, especially since the Senate reached unanimity back on August 5th.
S3729 truly is a compromise bill that funds commercial crew & cargo initiatives (SpaceX, Orbital and others) as part of a balanced plan that also encourages the simplest and least expensive heavy lift variant, the Jupiter DIRECT architecture.
The current S3729 is far closer to what President Obama's Administration proposed on February 1, 2010 than it is to the Program of Record this Administration inherited from President Bush. Yes, there are elements of S3729 that some do not like however politics is the art of the possible and rejecting a path that has the unanimous support of the United States Senate does not strike me as prudent.
Looking forward, I hope to see the vehicles and architectures contemplated by S3729 be used to achieve the following goals:
- Establish robust and assured logistical support for the International Space Station to finally allow that facility to operated at full capacity;
Mike Griffin's Constellationm program envisioned splashing ISS into the Pacific after 2015 in order to free up money for his super giant rocket, the Ares V.
As a supporter of Jupiter DIRECT, I believe the heavy lift vehicles suggested by S3729 are sufficient to fulfill our launch needs.
- Use the proposes Space Launch System to facilitate collaborative international space exploration that operates constructively with the other nations of the world.
The approach Mike Griffin advocates is for America to explore space by itself, which would to be both fiscally irresponsible and geo-politically imprudent.
I urge passage of S3729 by the House of Representatives.