A
AALARD
Guest
Senate passes its version of NASA budget
WASHINGTON, A Senate budget plan for NASA adds another shuttle flight and has funding for a heavy-lift launch vehicle and for commercial space taxis, U.S. lawmakers say.
The bill must be reconciled with a measure in the U.S. House and will have to pass appropriation committees in both chambers, Florida Today reported Saturday.
The $19 billion bill passed Thursday on a unanimous vote, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a chief backer of the bill, said.
"That's a near-miracle," Nelson said.
The passage of the measure is "a big deal" for NASA and the Kennedy Space Center, he said, where about 8,000 jobs are expected to be lost as a result of the shuttle fleet retirement.
Nelson, who chairs the Senate Science and Space Subcommittee, said development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle would mean 2,000 new jobs at the space center.
"That lessens the layoffs if we can get the heavy-lift started in 2011," he said.
WASHINGTON, A Senate budget plan for NASA adds another shuttle flight and has funding for a heavy-lift launch vehicle and for commercial space taxis, U.S. lawmakers say.
The bill must be reconciled with a measure in the U.S. House and will have to pass appropriation committees in both chambers, Florida Today reported Saturday.
The $19 billion bill passed Thursday on a unanimous vote, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a chief backer of the bill, said.
"That's a near-miracle," Nelson said.
The passage of the measure is "a big deal" for NASA and the Kennedy Space Center, he said, where about 8,000 jobs are expected to be lost as a result of the shuttle fleet retirement.
Nelson, who chairs the Senate Science and Space Subcommittee, said development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle would mean 2,000 new jobs at the space center.
"That lessens the layoffs if we can get the heavy-lift started in 2011," he said.