AmericaSpace Note: Not a good day for the President’s space policy team. 62 members of the House of Representatives, that’s 14.3% of the full House, have signed a letter stating their opposition to the President’s plans for NASA, as proposed in the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2010 NASA Budget. The following quotes pretty much say it all…
“We support the immediate development and production of a heavy-lift launch vehicle that, in conjunction with the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, may be used for either lunar or deep-space exploration to an asteroid and beyond, as you said in Florida. This would provide operational flexibility while ensuring our taxpayers’ investments have not been made in vain. Industry and space experts believe that a heavy-lift exploration system could be operation within six years and achieved within NASA’s Exploration topline budget. With no significant technological breakthroughs on the horizon in regard to heavy-lift propulsion needs, we see no reason to prolong a decision that will result in the loss of a highly-experienced and motivated workforce.
We look forward to working with you in the coming weeks to make the necessary changes in order to support an exploration program that continues our elite astronaut corps, preserves an irreplaceable workforces, protects our defense industrial base and ensures that the U.S. will leave low-Earth orbit within the decade.
So what are we going to launch on the HLV (need multiple payloads) and where is THAT money going to come from.