Posted: Fri, Jul 16, 2010, 7:13 AM ET (1113 GMT)
A US Senate committee unanimously approved Thursday a NASA authorization bill that represents a compromise between the White House and advocates of NASA's existing exploration plans. The authorization act would end development of the Ares launch vehicles but direct NASA to begin immediate development of a new heavy-lift launcher that would draw upon Shuttle and Ares heritage, and not wait for five years as proposed by the administration. The authorization bill supports commercial crew and technology development programs, although not at the same level as in the NASA budget request. The bill also authorizes an additional shuttle mission, using hardware developed for the "launch on need" rescue shuttle mission. The legislation was hailed by both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Commerce Committee, which approved the bill during a brief session Thursday morning. The bill does not itself provide NASA with any funding but instead authorizes such expenditures; a separate appropriations bill will be taken up by another committee next week.
