Posted on 07/23/2005 4:14:04 AM PDT by demlosers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House Friday overwhelmingly endorsed President Bush's vision to send man back to the moon and eventually on to Mars as it passed a bill to set NASA policy for the next two years.
The bill passed 383-15 after a collegial debate in which lawmakers stressed their commitment to not just Bush's ambitious space exploration plans but also to traditional NASA programs such as science and aeronautics.
There is some tension between Congress and the White House over the balance between Bush's vision for space exploration and other NASA initiatives. Originally, the measure would have shifted $1.3 billion in funds from exploration to other NASA programs. But after administration objections lawmakers added the money back to the budget for exploration during floor debate. That was done by adding to the bill's bottom line -- now at $34.7 billion -- not at the expense of science and aeronautics.
Democratic Rep. Bart Gordon of Tennessee said Bush's ambitious moon and Mars missions "should not be done by cannibalizing other NASA missions.''
The bill is the first NASA policy measure -- its budget is funded by a separate bill -- to pass the House in five years. It advanced as the space agency tries to rebound from the Columbia disaster in February 2003 with the launch of the space shuttle Discovery next Tuesday.
The measure permits but does not explicitly endorse retiring the space shuttle fleet by 2010, as the administration would like to do. It directs the agency to launch a new crew exploration vehicle -- which would lack the full capabilities of the shuttle but could travel to the International Space Station -- as close to 2010 as feasible.
NASA's plans call for a new vehicle to be ready by 2014, which unnerves lawmakers who do not want the United States to have to rely on other countries to catch a lift to the space station.
A companion Senate measure approved by the Commerce, Science and Transportation panel last month would bar NASA from retiring the shuttle before a replacement vehicle is ready.
Both House and Senate bills also endorse a servicing and repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Without such a mission, the Hubble will fail when its gyroscopes and batteries wear out in the next few years, but the agency has not announced whether to let the telescope fail or whether it will undertake a costly manned repair mission.
"Congress endorses the President's Vision for Space Exploration,'' said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y. "The United States will work to return to the moon by 2020, and then will move on to other destinations.''
The full Senate has yet to act on the NASA measure.
Regardless of the ringing endorsement Friday, NASA must still compete with other agencies for its budget in the annual appropriations process, which moves on a separate track. That promises to make it difficult to fulfill all of the policy recommendations made by the House on Friday.
Still, there was one lone voice against the bill. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., questioned spending billions to go to Mars when "day after day ... we're told we can't do enough for housing and we can't do enough for health care.''
"This is a fundamental debate the country ought to have ... about whether or not to commit these untold billions ... at the expense of other important programs,'' he said.
"Shut up, Barney."
I was just going to post the same thing. lol. Thanks.
I will support the trip if the Democrat leaders in Congress are the first crew and agree to stay. Let Sheila Jackson Lee plant her own flag up there. Down there? Over there? Where in the heck is Mars?
This is ONLY a good idea if the project is ONLY a U.S.A. project with no foreign connections whatsoever and all data is kept "at home"!!!!!!!!!
"This is ONLY a good idea if the project is ONLY a U.S.A. project with no foreign connections whatsoever and all data is kept "at home"!!!!!!!!!"
Roger that. It's directly relateable to national security.
A gigantically expensive space trip in the middle of a so-called war (in which we can't provide sufficient troop strength nor protect those that are there)?
This is the kind of thinking that made America great! If not for our drive for exploration and expansion, we would still be 13 small states along the East Coast of North America. The exploration of space constitutes less than 1% of the federal budget, but it is critical for national morale, inspiring the next generation of students, advancing technology, and establishing America as the preeminent culture on Earth. The Apollo program helped us win the Cold War with far fewer casualties by convincing our enemies that America can accomplish anything that we set our minds to. Imagine the effect on some kid living in a mud hut in the Middle East who looks up and knows that America has a colony on the Moon while he is living in an 8th Century nightmare. Space exploration is not the whole answer, but it is part of the answer.
The Best weapon of mass destruction is the one that took out the dinosaurs. It makes everything the Islamofascists come up with pale by comparison.
Only an ongoing presence in space can provide us the wherewithal to deal with space-borne problems, as the recent cometary impact probe should demonstrate.
Moreover, Mankind's ultimate destiny lies in expanding to other worlds, or perishing here. That particular factor in the Drake equation is the biggest unknown in our future.
The only safe directions to not point are true North and South. Mars is farther from the Sun than we are, but since it orbits the Sun also, it could be on the other side of it from us.
At some point, it would possibly be useful to many who are interested, to have a watch that gives us such an orientation. Present time and season on Mars, as well as its current position in orbit relative to Earth.
Now might be the time to invest in the company that will produce such a consumer item.
Better than paying for welfare mommas and foreign aid for despots that hate us.
It would be a bitch to head for Mars and run into the Sun.
Now might be the time to invest in the company that will produce such a consumer item
Go get 'em, Bob. I think you are the man for the job.
Actually, it could be quite a convenient shortcut. Remember the slingshot maneuver? It could take months off the time of a traditional trip to Mars.
Actually going into the Sun would be a bad thing, however. Solar protection factor only goes so high, you know.
I agree, however, I favor more invovlement by private industry....
Maybe NASCAR drivers should be recruited as astronauts.
A Mars clock is an excellent idea. In fact, timekeeping on the moon has to be resolved. What did they do with the Rovers? Decimal marsday?
Excuse me, but how has time on the Moon been resolved?
I just wish Scotty could have lived to see it happen.
"This is ONLY a good idea if the project is ONLY a U.S.A. project with no foreign connections whatsoever and all data is kept "at home"!!!!!!!!!"
.
Roger that. It's directly relateable to national security.
Despite national security concerns, the Bush Administration will outsource this to India.
America offers Patriot missile system to India
India test-fires nuke missile
SUBMARINES: India Develops Underwater Missile Launch
US discussing missile defence with India: US official
India could be exporting missiles
US clears sale of latest Patriot missile system to India
U.S. Willing To Talk to India About Supplying Missile Defense
India debates manned space flight as its lunar mission readies
US to ease export controls on India's space, nuclear facilities
Meeting of India-US Joint Working Group on Space Held at Bangalore
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.