E’ stata da poco rilasciata la bozza della House of Representative del NASA Authorization Bill che, rispetto a quella rilasciata quest’estate, si avvicina molto alla stessa, a suo tempo, rilasciata dal Senato.
Quindi, nonostante le indiscrezioni indicassero il contrario, l’incontro di settimana scorsa tra il Sen. Nelson ed il Repr. Gordon ha portato ad un accenno di intesa tra i due organi legislativi americani.
Ecco il raffronto tra la vecchia bozza (HR5781) ed il nuovo Compromise Bill:
SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON OF HR 5781 AND HOUSE COMPROMISE NASA BILL
OVERALL FUNDING:
Both bills provide a total of $58.4 billion in funding for NASA.
SCIENCE
Both bills provide a total of $15.86 billion for Space and Earth Science
AERONAUTICS
Both bills provide a total of $1.79 billion for Aeronautics
SPACE TECHNOLOGY
H.R. 5781 provided a total of $2.64 billion for Space Technology, and was silent on the amounts being provided for Exploration Technology Development in that account; $5 million was included for Exploration Technology Development in the Exploration account.
The Compromise Bill provides a total of $2.67 billion for Space Technology, of which a total of $1.19 billion will be for Exploration Technology Development.
Both bills provide $15 million per year for the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) program.
ROBOTIC PRECURSORS
H.R. 5781 provided a total of $5 million for Robotic Precursors.
The Compromise Bill provides a total of $150 million for Robotic Precursors.
EXPLORATION
H.R. 5781 provided a total of $13.18 billion for the Restructured Exploration program, including ground operations and launch infrastructure investments. It also separately included a total of $150 million for the 21st Century Launch Complex initiative.
The Compromise Bill provides a total of $12.21 billion for the Space Launch System, Crew Vehicle, and associated activities, of which a total of $1.33 billion is provided for a NASA Launch Support and Infrastructure Modernization program.
COMMERCIAL CARGO AND CREW DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
H.R. 5781 provided a total of $464 million for commercial cargo and crew development activities.
The Compromise Bill provides a total of $1.212 billion for commercial cargo and crew development activities.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
H.R. 5781 provided a total of $9 billion for the ISS.
The Compromise bill provides a total of $8.9 billion for the ISS.
Both bills provide a total of $275 million for ISS research.
ADDITIONAL SHUTTLE FLIGHT
The Compromise bill provides $600 million in FY 2011 for an additional “Launch on Need” (STS-135) Shuttle flight.
EDUCATION
H.R. 5781 provided a total of $437.4 million for Education.
The Compromise Bill provides a total of $540 million for Education.
Il Presidente del “Committee on Science and Technology” Bart Gordon ha annunciato che domani la sua commissione della House of Representative discuterà se approvare “in toto” l’authorization Bill del Senato.
[i]“I anticipate that the House will consider the Senate version of the NASA reauthorization on Wednesday.
I still believe that the bipartisan Compromise language we released is a better approach. I have a number of concerns with the Senate bill, including:
The Senate bill includes an unfunded mandate to keep the Shuttle program going through the remainder of FY 2011, even after the Shuttle is retired, at a cost of $500 million or more without clarifying where the funds will come from, all but ensuring that other important NASA programs will be cannibalized.
I am concerned that the Senate bill is overly prescriptive for the design of the follow-on rocket. The end result is the Senate trying to design a rocket for NASA, while being silent on the safety of the vehicle. The compromise language lets NASA determine the best approach in the design of the follow-on human spaceflight and exploration program.
The compromise language ensures access to the ISS and minimizes the human spaceflight transportation ‘gap’ that will exist after the Shuttle is retired. The Senate bill does not provide a timetable for a government backup capability, which could make NASA’s access to space completely dependent on commercial providers. I am hopeful the commercial providers will be successful, but, whereas they have missed contractual cargo milestones thus far, I am wary of being completely dependent on them, because if they fail, we will be dependent on the Russians for longer than absolutely necessary.
It has become clear that there is not time remaining to pass a Compromise bill through the House and the Senate. For the sake of providing certainty, stability, and clarity to the NASA workforce and larger space community, I felt it was better to consider a flawed bill than no bill at all as the new fiscal year begins. I will continue to advocate to the Appropriators for the provisions in the Compromise language.”[/i]
Big wednesday today!
Mentre l’attenzione di tutto il mondo astronautico si sposta alla House, per vedere quale sarà il destino dello Human Space Flight USA, ecco che ti salta fuori il vecchio Mike Griffin con una sparata in zona cesarini, affermando che per il bene della nazione la House non dovrebbe votare a favore della proposta del Senato.
[i]"After considerable reflection, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that NASA and the nation’s space program would be best served if the House were to vote against the Senate Authorization Bill in its present form.
"I have the greatest personal and professional respect for Chairman Gordon, and I understand his decision to consider a poor authorization bill rather than to have none at all. However, as Mr. Gordon himself has noted, the Senate Bill has grievous flaws, for which the best hope is now that they can be fixed during the appropriations process. But this is an uncertain path, and while it is true that the Senate Bill offers some improvement over the Obama Administration’s ill-advised plan for NASA, in my considered opinion it is not enough better to warrant its support in law.
“As happened after the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia, it is time once again to ask ourselves whether we want to have a real space program, or not. If we do, then the Senate Bill won’t get us there. 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.”[/i]
Ricordo che per approvare la proposta basteranno i 2/3 dei voti.
La proposta includerebbe 13 miliardi di dollari “for the Restructured Exploration program, including ground operations and launch infrastructure investments.” Ciò si riferisce a Constellation?
Da quanto riesco a capire su Twitter, sembra che il piano sia stato approvato Qui un ringraziamento da Bolden al Congresso
Anche su Spaceflight Now viene riportata la notizia.
Quindi ritengo sia ufficiale l’approvazione della proposta del Senato, non resta che la firma del presidente per avere finalmente qualcosa di certo su cui lavorare
Su Spaceflight now dice che il Constellation viene cancellato… ma non era stata approvata la legge per cui invece bisognava continuarlo? Non riesco mai a capire questi giri politici…
