*EPF519 04/23/2004
Administration's Space Exploration Plan Meets Doubt in Congress
(Bush plan outlines vision; lawmakers want details) (480)

By Charlene Porter
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- U.S. lawmakers who decide how government money is spent have expressed reluctance to approve a new course for the nation's space program unless the Bush administration begins to provide more specific details about its proposals for the next decade.

In January, President Bush outlined a plan which aspires to mount another manned mission to the Moon by 2015, then using Earth's satellite as a stepping stone for later missions to, in the president's words, "Mars and to worlds beyond." In the nearer term, the administration aims to complete the International Space Station and develop a new type of spacecraft����the Crew Exploration Vehicle -- to replace the aging space shuttle fleet.

Members of a House Appropriations subcommittee expressed their doubts about this ambitious program during an April 21 appearance by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) chief Sean O'Keefe.

Subcommittee Chairman James T. Walsh, a Republican from New York, told O'Keefe that the Congress will need more specifics than have been provided. "There are many facets that are still very unclear," Walsh said. "We need to have a clear understanding of what we are being asked to endorse before we can move a bill forward."

In the aftermath of the fatal crash of the Columbia space shuttle in February 2003, an investigating board and congressional inquiries said that, beyond the technical problems that led to the accident, a lack of vision was a long-term problem in the space program. O'Keefe said that is the void the Bush administration plan fills.

President Bush "made a judgment about what that space policy vision should be in response to the Congress' call," O'Keefe said. "On the 14th of January, he delivered on exactly that vision."

The administration did not seek significant new funding for space exploration when the president outlined the plan, but suggested cutting back or eliminating programs already under way at NASA. For instance, the administration proposed ending the Hubble Space Telescope program, a recommendation that has drawn criticism from supporters of that program.

Any plan to redistribute funds will require a re-evaluation of priorities for space exploration and space science. This exercise is being conducted at the same time NASA is evaluating the Columbia accident, which resulted in the deaths of all seven crewmembers. That accident grounded the entire shuttle program, and the space agency is still working to return to flight.

All these simultaneous challenges concern Representative Alan Mollohan, a Democrat from West Virginia. "I'm concerned that there is too much, too fast without enough funding and without consideration and debate in Congress," Mollohan told O'Keefe.

"This committee and the Congress," Walsh said, "will give your vision proposal a fair hearing, but I cannot commit this Congress and future Congresses to a program that is undefined."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Return to Public File Main Page

Return to Public Table of Contents