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From the Executive DirectorYou Made a Difference
July 19, 2010 Thank you to all Planetary Society Members who responded to The Planetary Society Activist Alert this past week. It remains critically important that we show the U.S Congress that the public cares about space exploration. Your calls made a difference. The bill passed by the Senate Authorizing Committee adopted the amendment proposed by Senator Barbara Boxer to put some money back into exploration technology and robotic precursor missions. This will help advance human missions to other worlds. The amendment by Senator Mark Warner to restore funding for commercial launchers was withdrawn, but the final bill did provide money to begin developing commercial vehicles. However, that development will come more slowly than was proposed in the Administration’s proposal. The bill did not permit a full commitment to commercial launches for human crews. Some wise person once said that politics is the art of compromise, and we see that at work in this bill. It adopted the main principles of the Administration‚s plan: eliminating the Ares 1 and refocusing human space flight on deep space exploration. At the same time, it delayed the transfer of human launches to low Earth orbit to commercial launch providers, and it accelerated the building of a heavy lift launch vehicle while cutting the development of new space technologies. This is only one Senate Committee’s action, and there is still a long road before the full Congress finally passes a 2011 budget for NASA. But contentiousness seems to have been reduced and the White House has indicated it will accept the compromise. So, thanks again for taking action. You made a difference. We will keep you updated. --Louis D. Friedman Comments? We welcome your opinions on this subject. Send us email! |
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