NASA Plan Faces Turbulence in House – WSJ.com

NASA Plan Faces Turbulence in House – WSJ.com

An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about the reception, really the hail-storm, that the Obama Administration is getting on Capitol Hill to cancel the human space flight program. I think one reason for such an appropriately visceral reaction is that this move by Administrator Bolden and his Deputy Lori Garver would end the whole human program. Unlike the tough fight during the 1990’s debate over whether to continue funding the space station program, at that time canceling ISS would have meant a scaled-down human spaceflight program, not the end of all human space flight since NASA still had the Shuttle.

The reaction portends an uphill fight for the Obama Administration, partly due to sentiment on Capitol Hill that it failed to consult members before unveiling such a dramatic shift in direction

In an interview Tuesday, NASA’s chief administrator, Charles Bolden, accepted part of the blame. “I could have done a better job of communicating” with Congress, he said. “I will take the hit for that.

The reason NASA executive leadership, if you can call it that, didn’t consult Congress was simple–they knew that Congressional leaders would stop their efforts to end human space flight cold before it got out the door in the budget and with the imprimatur of the White House.

Cartoon

Standing Up For Constellation