Update Manager
07-20-2008, 05:15 AM
NASA's chances of getting the money it needs to speed development of the space shuttle's replacement dimmed this week amid fresh reports that the Orion space capsules are behind schedule and over budget.
"It clearly doesn't make it any easier," said Sen. Bill Nelson, the Orlando Democrat who chairs the Senate panel that oversees NASA. "It makes it that much harder to get the funding."
Compounding the problem, he and other lawmakers said, is the current impasse over budget bills. Congress has yet to pass any of the 12 annual appropriations bills, and probably won't until a new president takes office.
A NASA document released this week reported that the agency is at least a year behind its internal deadline of 2013 for launching Orion on its first human mission. Publicly, the agency has always named 2015 as the date for the mission.
More... ([Only Registered Users Can See Links])
"It clearly doesn't make it any easier," said Sen. Bill Nelson, the Orlando Democrat who chairs the Senate panel that oversees NASA. "It makes it that much harder to get the funding."
Compounding the problem, he and other lawmakers said, is the current impasse over budget bills. Congress has yet to pass any of the 12 annual appropriations bills, and probably won't until a new president takes office.
A NASA document released this week reported that the agency is at least a year behind its internal deadline of 2013 for launching Orion on its first human mission. Publicly, the agency has always named 2015 as the date for the mission.
More... ([Only Registered Users Can See Links])