The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Thursday unanimously approved a bill aimed at assuring that the United States is able to continuously fly in space while the space shuttle is retired and a new vehicle brought on line.
The committee voted 22-0 to send to the full Senate a bill governing the activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through 2010. Earlier proposals called for a gap in human space-flight capability, but the committee did not agree.
The bill would authorize a 3 percent increase in funding for NASA from fiscal 2006 through fiscal 2010, or a budget of $16.6 billion in fiscal 2006 and growing to $18.5 billon.
"Our national policy will determine the nation's role in future space exploration and its contribution to broad research and our national security," said Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, chairwoman of the Science and Space Subcommittee. "The possibility of a gap in space flight must be eliminated if the [United States] wants to be a leader in space exploration."
The bill also would require completion of the International Space Station and designate it as a "national laboratory facility." Hutchison said that designation would make it eligible for funding from sources other than NASA.
The bill calls for the NASA administrator to craft a plan to keep the space station continuously supplied and functioning. An amendment that would have directed more money into airplane research and development was defeated on a 13-9 vote.
Allen argued that at a time when the U.S. share of the global aircraft market is declining, "a top priority investment should be in the civil aviation industry." But Hutchison argued that taking money from the NASA budget for airplane research would hurt other aspects of space exploration and science that are the agency's primary function.
She suggested that money could be found in the military budget for research into new aircraft. "I suggest that the work be done but not with the NASA budget," she said.
The committee also defeated, on a 13-9 vote, an amendment that would have earmarked more funds for pure scientific research on the sun and other space entities.
"These areas have seen a reduction in funding because of the Moon-Mars effort," Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., said, citing President Bush's emphasis on exploration to the moon and beyond.
But Hutchison again argued that the bill had to strike a balance among all of NASA's missions. "This takes a specific aspect of basic science and puts it ahead of other areas," she said.