Texas House Delegation Calls For $2 Billion Increase In NASA Budget

A bi-partisan group of House members from Texas, twenty-five Democrats and five Republicans, have written an open letter to the House leadership calling for an increase of $2 billion for NASA's budget. See this article in the Houston Chronicle for details.

The bi-partisan group, lead by Representative Nick Lampson (D-22), addressed the letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Stephen Hoyer, Minority Leader John Boehner, Minority Whip Roy Blunt, Appropriations Chairman David Obey and Appropriations Ranking Member Jerry Lewis. They called for the increase to be part of another economic stimulus package or the supplemental appropriations bill.

As the delegation stated in the letter:
Investing these much-needed resources in NASA will reimburse the agency for funds spent on return-to-flight expenses following the Columbia disaster and for repairs needed following Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. In addition, these funds will help close the gap between the Shuttle and Constellation programs to minimize our dependence on Russia. We believe these funds will provide an immediate and long-term economic stimulus for our nation's economy as well through additional investments in science and aeronautics R&D.

This push for additional NASA funding mirrors a similar effort in the Senate, lead by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). The bi-partisan nature of both efforts illustrates how space exploration rises above the politically-charged bitterness that often divides members of Congress.

The Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploation strongly supports the effort to increase NASA funding. It is critical that Project Constellation receive necessary funding to accelerate the development of the Orion spacecraft and Ares rockets, so as to minimize the gap between the final flight of the Shuttle and the first flight of Orion. This will not only reduce American dependance upon Russia for access to Earth orbit, but will greatly advance the twin goals of returning astronauts to the Moon and sending an expedition to Mars.

April Newsletter: Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration

April of 2008 has been an exciting and interesting month for the Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration. After months of laying the administrative groundwork, the Committee "went public" earlier this month and we have now started our work in earnest.


Public Debut and Coming Website Enhancements

On April 14, the Committee made its public debut, with Director Jeff Brooks publishing a notice in the popular on-line space newsletter The Space Review, which is edited by Jeff Foust. By the end of the day, more than 500 hits were registered on the Committee website and online contributions had started coming in. Large numbers of people signed up to receive Committee notices and many interested activists emailed Mr. Brooks to ask how they might be of assistance to the Committee in its mission to promote a robust and comprehensive American space program.

The large numbers of visitors to the website was a welcome surprise. The Committee website will be expanding considerably in the coming months, with many new features being added. Of particular interest to many will be the online postings of Committee endorsements for the 2008 election cycle. Our goal is to make the Committee website the "one stop shop" on the Internet for people who wish to know which candidates for Congress and the Presidency are the most pro-space.


Coming Endorsements

The main purpose of the Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration is to assist the campaigns of pro-space candidates for federal office. To begin this process, we are busy communicating with congressional campaigns in order to determine which candidates are the most deserving of our support.

We have been mailing out questionnaires to the campaign offices of every contested Senate race and in selected competitive House races. We are following this up with direct contact with the campaigns. Because space exploration has been an almost invisible issue on the campaign trail, we feel that it is critically important for the campaigns to know that there is a dedicated constituency who believes the issue to be important.

The feedback we have received thus far has been quite positive, including statements that it was "about time" the space advocacy community had a political action committee. We expect to announce our first endorsements in June. Critical races will also be given financial support from the Committee's campaign fund. The larger the campaign fund, the more campaigns we can support- more on that later.


Message to the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics

In addition to supporting candidates for office, the Committee does its work by lobbying Congress on matters of space policy. Recently, the Committee sent letters to each member of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics to express its concern over the dependence of NASA on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

While it is inevitable that NASA will lack its own human spaceflight capability between the last flight of the Space Shuttle and the first flight of the Orion spacecraft, the Committee hopes that Congress will make the necessary policy decisions now to ensure that this time period will be kept to an absolute minimum.

In its letter, the Committee called for two specific policies to be enacted. First, the Subcommittee members should follow the lead of Senator Barbara Milkulski (D-MD) and push for an addition of $1 billion to the NASA budget in order to accelerate the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Ares rockets. Second, the Subcommittee members should push for increased support for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, helping to create a commercial alternative to government launches for the provision of supplies to the International Space Station.

These two measures will not only reduce America's dependence upon Russia for access to Earth orbit, but will greatly advance the goals of returning astronauts to the Moon and sending an expedition to Mars.


Building a Campaign Fund

A main task ahead of the Committee is raising funds to provide support for pro-space candidates over the course of the 2008 election. The more money we raise, the more support we can give to pro-space candidates and the more attention will be given to space policy as an election issue.
Any help you can provide will be of great value. Even contributions as small as $10, $25 or $50 can make a considerable difference. Basic membership in the Committee is $30.

Contributions can be made online through our website or can be mailed to:
Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration
P.O. Box 200243
Austin, TX 78720-0243

As always, please feel free to contact the Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration with any questions or comments you might have. General inquiries can be sent to info@committee4spaceadvocacy.org, while questions specifically addressed to Director Jeff Brooks can be sent to director@committee4spaceadvocacy.org. Our phone number is: (904) 382-8348.

Soyuz Mishap Illustrates Dangers Of Relying On Russia For Transportation To Space Station

Over the past several days, much attention has been focused on the faulty landing of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft bringing back crew members from the International Space Station. American Peggy Whitson, Russian Yuri Malenchenko and South Korean Yi So-yeon (the first South Korean in space) were apparently subjected to ten times the force of gravity - far above what is supposed to be the case - and landed nearly 300 miles away from their landing site.

NASA is playing down the problem, despite the fact that this is the second flawed landing by a Soyuz in as many attempts. While an investigation of the problem will doubtless take some time, it is quite clear that the reputation of the Soyuz spacecraft as a safe and reliable vessel is under threat.

These facts should be kept in mind when we consider that the United States will rely on the Soyuz for a minimum of five years between the schduled retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2010 and the first manned flight of the Orion in 2015.

The Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration believes that funding should be provided by Congress in order to accelerate the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Ares rocket, so as to minimize the amount of time NASA will be required to depend on Soyuz for transportation to the ISS. Not only are there safety issues to consider, but it is politically unwise to rely upon Russia in such matters.

NASA Signals Intention To Rely On COTS For Future Cargo Missions To ISS

In a sign that NASA leadership is increasingly confident in the eventual success of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has sent a letter to Congress stating that the space agency will not need to rely on Russian Progress cargo spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station after 2011.

The COTS program is a critical building block in American space exploration policy. Through the program, NASA is provided hundreds of millions of dollars to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation as seed money to help them develop low-cost, reliable orbital spacecraft that can undertake routine missions. The regular resupply of the ISS is the most obvious and immediate mission for these new spacecraft, but they will also have enormous potential for other missions. By turning over routine orbital missions to private industry, NASA will increase its ability to focus on the more far-reaching goals of returning to the Moon and sending an expedition to Mars.

The Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration believes strongly that American space exploration must be a fruitful partnership between the government and private industry. The COTS program is a wonderful example of such a partnership and should continue to be supported by Congress.

NASA Extends Cassini Mission

Good news from Saturn. After four years of amazing work, and with the spacecraft still operating at a high level of efficiency, NASA has agreed to a $160 million extension of the Cassini mission to Saturn.

The Cassini robotic probe has been one of the glories of the Space Age. Launched in 1997, the spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004 and has been exploring the beautiful ringed planet with astonishing success ever since. Cassini launched the Huygens probe, built by the European Space Agency, down to the surface of Titan and has performed amazing scientific research on both Saturn and its system of moons for nearly four years.

While its planned primary mission is soon to end, Cassini remains in excellent health and more than capable of continuing its exploration of the Saturnian system. NASA's decision to fund an extension of the program, even in this time of strong budget pressures, is an extremely wise one.

Space Review Publishes Article Introducing the Committee to the Space Advocacy Community

The Space Review, one of the best on-line space-interest newsletters, has published an article written by Jeff Brooks, Director of the Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration, which serves to help introduce the Committee to the wider space advocacy community. Having spent the last few months dealing with the various administrative tasks necessary to get a political action commitee off the ground, we are delighted to finally be getting to chance to reach out to other space advocates.

Go here to read the article.

Possible Aerospace Job Cuts A Cause For Concern

This article in Aviation Week provides a good summary of an issue that is raising eyebrows across the political and industrial landscape of the aerospace world. Its message: the 2010 retirement of the Space Shuttle could cost the aerospace industry up to 9,000 jobs. 6,400 of these lost jobs would be in the politically-crucial state of Florida.

When President Bush accounced in 2004 that the Shuttle would be retired, everyone knew that job cuts were inevitable. However, it was hoped that an efficient transfer from Shuttle operations to the missions of the new Orion spacecraft would limit job losses and preserve the aerospace industry's talent for the coming manned missions to the Moon.

Congress can effectively deal with this problem by increasing the funding for the development of Orion and the Ares rockets, thus shortening the gap between the final flight of the Shuttle and the first manned mission of Orion. In addition, increasing support for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS), which provide funding to private aerospace companies for the development of spacecraft for routine orbital missions, could also alleviate job losses while substantially enhancing America's space capabilities.

Senator Mikulski Again Calls For $1 Billion Increase For NASA's Budget

Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who has long been a tireless defender of America's space program, has issued a press release in which she announced that she will renew her efforts to add an additional $1 billion to the NASA budget for Fiscal Year 2009.

Co-sponsors of the amendment are Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). These senators should be congratulated for their strong support of the American space program.

In previous attempts to pass this amendment, Congressman Nick Lampson(D-TX) has filed similar legislation in the House. Please note that Congressman Lampson is in a tough fight for re-election in his district, which includes the Johnson Space Center. His campaign website can be found here.

Here is a portion of the statement released by Senator Mikulski:
I’m disappointed that the President’s 2009 budget request for NASA is stagnant. The request is $17.6 billion – just $300 million above the 2008 omnibus level. A 1.8 percent increase does not keep up with inflation. Science is held steady at $4.4 billion. This only includes plans to launch five of 17 high priority Earth Science missions by 2020. Aeronautics research is cut by $65 million, for a total of just $447 million. There is no additional funding to help pay back NASA for the costs of returning the Shuttle to flight, perpetuating a five-year gap between the Shuttle’s retirement in 2010 and the launch of Orion and Ares in 2015. This is a budget of lost opportunities.

She goes on to say:
The budget request for the next generation vehicle is $3 billion, almost $600 million above the 2008 level. I am absolutely committed to the goal of returning the U.S. astronauts to the Moon and maintaining a U.S. presence there. With other nations seeking to expand their presence in space, returning to the Moon is a strategic goal. NASA estimates it will cost $16 billion to build Ares and Orion. While this is a significant investment, there will still be a gap of almost five years between the retirement of the space shuttle and the launch of Orion and Ares. I want to know what we can do to minimize this time gap and the impact of the gap on our workforce.

Senator Mikulski is one of NASA's great champions in the United States Congress. The Committee for the Advocacy of Space Exploration thanks her for her efforts on behalf of the space program and urges all members of Congress to follow her lead.