It is not as though Senator Hatch is against commercial space efforts. As the Senator notes, he is for commercial efforts. But Hatch feels that the commercial crew launchers have a long way to go before they are able to match the capabilities and rigors that NASA and its contractors, in this instance ATK, are demonstrating with the DM-2 test that occurred on August 31. It is his opinion, and obviously that of the Senate, that the Obama Administration, in proposing to end Constellation while basing our nation’s human space flight capabilities on commercial launchers, none of whom have ever launched a crew, was engaging in a political exercise rather than what was best for the country.
