Utah congressional delegation asks Obama to spare NASA Constellation program

WASHINGTON — It's not too common for Utah's congressional delegation to write a unified, bipartisan letter to push anything. But it just sent one to President Barack Obama urging him to reverse his proposal to kill NASA's Constellation program to return to the moon and aim for Mars.

"We have strong trepidations the new proposal offered will lead to a decline in our nation's preeminence in space and curtail our nation's ability to send astronauts to explore the cosmos," says the letter signed by all Utah members of Congress.

While it's not mentioned in the letter, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, has said canceling Constellation and its Ares I and Ares V rocket programs will cost 2,000 jobs in Utah and shutter ATK's Promontory rocket manufacturing and testing operations. He predicts it will cost 30,000 jobs nationwide.

Obama has proposed to cancel Constellation and instead depend in the near future on private companies to provide rockets to travel to the International Space Station, but such rockets have yet to be built and tested. The Ares rockets have gone through preliminary testing.

"Some have argued in the unprecedented budgetary environment the Ares system must fall victim to the budget ax," the delegation's letter said. But it notes that Obama's budget calls for a $6.1 billion increase for NASA between 2011 and 2015.

The Utah members wrote that increase "can be utilized to achieve Project Constellation's objectives." They note that canceling current Constellation contracts will also cost the government $2.5 billion, money that could be saved if the program continues at least at a slower pace.

They also wrote that the nation has already placed "a hefty investment into the Ares program. Yet, under the proposed initiative, this investment will be largely discarded for a proposition in which true cost and safety are unknown."

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, said separately that he plans to push for earmarks, if necessary, in the budget process to save the program. Conservative Republicans running against him have attacked his use of earmarks, but Bennett says using congressionally directed spending lets Congress and not Obama decide where money is spent.

"The president's decision to cut these programs is a perfect example of what would happen if Congress gave up its constitutional authority to appropriate federal funding," Bennett said. "If President Obama refuses to reinstate Project Constellation, I will work to correct this mistake by securing congressionally directed funds for the program."

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