Pete Olson: 50% Right, 50% Wrong

Congress must fulfill duty to clarify NASA’s future, Pete Olson, Houston Chronicle
“The last two Congresses — one controlled by Republicans, the other by Democrats – endorsed NASA’s current path. Unfortunately, they failed to provide the necessary funding. This Congress must meet our commitment to NASA. We must stop bailing out the past in a seemingly endless stream of bailouts and instead start providing for our future. President Barack Obama rejected this path and instead offered a budget that would walk away from the $9 billion we’ve invested in the next generation exploration vehicle system known as Constellation. He would divert $6 billion in taxpayer dollars, much to companies that have no track record of putting a human in space, let alone ferrying cargo. That is not only wasteful, but potentially reckless. NASA has a nearly 50-year record of human space endeavor.”
Keith’s note: Right now the private sector’s track record (Falcon 9, Delta IV, Atlas V) is much, much better than NASA’s performance with Ares 1.