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Senator Nelson Weighs in NASA Authorization Bill

By Marc Boucher
NASA Watch
June 21, 2013
Filed under ,

Nelson warns of partisan “chaos” regarding NASA authorization, Space Politics
Immediately after the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee wrapped up its hearing on a draft NASA authorization bill Wednesday morning, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) offered his views on the subject at a Space Transportation Association luncheon on the other side of Capitol Hill. Nelson, chairman of the space subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee, said his committee was working on its own version of a NASA authorization bill that would be ready by mid-July or perhaps sooner, in order to support appropriators.”
What we’re going to try to mark up is a balanced program,” he said, citing progress in both commercial crew development and the Space Launch System and Orion programs, as well as science programs, including the James Webb Space Telescope.

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5 responses to “Senator Nelson Weighs in NASA Authorization Bill”

  1. John Gardi says:
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    Folks:

    Dump SLS and Orion or any chance of American success in space is nil. Forget superiority, that ended when the last Space Shuttle kissed concrete.

    It’s not that there isn’t innovation or the will in America to do the ‘right stuff’, it’s that the process to make rational decisions on a national space direction (not ‘program’) has been hijacked by those who have no skill to choose properly or will to put national success in space before local ‘interests’.

    NASA, the Air Force and the NRO have had to whitewater kayak up rapids to convince lawmakers to let them just ‘try’ SpaceX launch vehicles and spacecraft. They all have their fingers crossed, hoping the Falcon 9-R pans out so they can buy into a ‘done deal’, the same way NASA did with Falcon/Dragon ISS cargo missions.

    Is this any way to run a national space program?

    tinker

    • Steve Whitfield says:
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      Tinker,

      I agree with you, to a point, but it always comes back to the same thing — the Congressional decision makers have little or no concern for a national space program. They do what they do for reasons entirely unrelated to a space program, and nobody, not even big talkers like Nelson, have ever done anything to address this problem.

      Don’t look for 9-R or any other piece of hardware to make things better; it’s not going to happen. The closest they get to rational decisions about the space program is when they consider national defense issues, and even then they’re more interested in maintaining the pork than in the needs of the nation. We all realize this, yet we pretend like there are ways to fix the space program and NASA without first fixing the Congressional machinery that’s at cross purposes with them. I just don’t see how it can happen.

      Steve

  2. Mark Shackelford says:
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    Folks:

    Dump SLS or Orion and any chance of American success in space is nil.

    SLS has entered PDR and is making massive progress, completely unlike CxP at this stage of the game.

    Boeing and subcontractors are installing the massive new friction-stir welding rigs in the Michoud Assembly Facility.

    Do not make false equivalences between CxP and SLS, they are being run completely differently.

    • Steve Whitfield says:
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      Mark,

      I think (I hope) most of us are past the CxP / SLS comparison stage. Even if there were things to compare, they’re no longer relevant. What we’re doing now is comparing SLS and Orion to the (very ambiguous) requirements of the US space program. I think most of us would agree that:
      1) first launch date;
      2) launch rate; and
      3) no money available for either the rest of the hardware or any actual missions;
      are the major issues.

      If we stick to the SLS/Orion plan as is, then nobody has to worry about nailing down destinations or missions for many years to come because there simply won’t be any.

      Something has to change.

    • dogstar29 says:
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      Falcon and Atlas have used friction-stir for years,. The problem with Nelson is that he tells other people to make hard choices (increase NASA budget) but isn’t willing to make hard choices himself. (SLS vs practical spaceflight)