 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Washington (AFP) Sept 30, 2010 The US Congress has approved NASA's 2011 budget, which provides funds for the development of commercial spaceflights and an additional space shuttle flight. The House of Representatives voted 304 to 118 to approve the budget late Wednesday in a final series of votes before Congress recesses for the November 2 mid-term elections. The measure, a compromise between House and Senate versions of the bill which now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature, would provide 60 billion dollars for the space agency through 2013. It funds one more launch of the shuttle after two that are currently scheduled. It also anticipates helping the private sector develop commercial launchers to put astronauts and other payloads into orbit. Funding also would go for starting to develop a new heavy launcher, which would be crucial for sending astronauts to an asteroid of Mars, but also the International Space Station. Seven billion dollars have been earmarked for work aimed at making the new heavy launcher operational by 2016. President Barack Obama's space program calls for retiring the space shuttle after a final two flights in November and February. After that, the United States would depend on the Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to carry US astronauts to the ISS until a successor the shuttle is developed. The administration did not plan on beginning work on a heavy launcher before 2015.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
CSF Strongly Supports Senate NASA Authorization BillWashington DC (SPX) Sep 28, 2010 The Commercial Spaceflight Federation strongly supports Senate bill S.3729, the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, which has been approved unanimously by the Senate. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation urges that the House vote to pass the Senate bill immediately, before the new fiscal year begins on October 1. Commercial Spaceflight Federation President Bretton Alexander said, "With ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
