Senate Committee Seeks Stability for NASA Programs in Next Administration

As I said the other day (and ranted about on the podcast this week), this hearing was focused on maintaining the status quo at all costs. I was a bit surprised that Constellation was brought up directly—I thought this hearing would be merely an homage to its cancellation.

The response from Gerstenmaier when asked what lessons were learned from Constellation and its cancellation was weak, at best. “We’re farther along this time!” isn’t the best reason to keep on keeping on.

The most disturbing part of the hearing was Bill Nelson’s statement on an ISS extension:

However, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), ranking member of the full committee, suggested NASA should operate the ISS beyond 2024 if at all possible. “There’s a lot more that we can do on that platform. It ought to be extended,” he said. “I will predict that shortly, in the next few years if not immediately, you’ll see an extension even on out to the end of the decade.”

That would really put the nail in the coffin of NASA’s Mars plans—however light those plans may be. The ISS is a massive piece of their budget, and the agency needs to free up that money if they ever want to see SLS launch a crewed Mars mission.