Senate committee votes to boost NASA moon program

WASHINGTON — Utah Sen. Bob Bennett and other backers of NASA's back-to-the-moon Constellation program scored a legislative victory Thursday and a likely reprieve for aerospace contractors such as Alliant Techsystems and its 2,000 Utah jobs tied to Constellation.

Thursday's action by the Senate Appropriations Committee prevents the Obama administration from terminating any aspect of the ambitious $108 billion moon program before Sept. 30.

The panel adopted the constraint in the must-pass wartime supplemental budget package with the support of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, a 17-year veteran of the Senate well versed in the intricacies of spending language.

By including the language in a $58.8 billion budget supplemental that will help underwrite the costs of surging combat operations in Afghanistan, Hutchison and her allies virtually assured that the restriction on NASA will be adopted by the full Senate and the House and signed by President Obama.

The amendment, adopted unanimously by the panel, was proposed by Bennett.

Hutchison welcomed the development.

"In the supplemental bill, we were able to stop the administration from terminating contracts for work on the Constellation program," Hutchison said.

"The administration's proposals have not been approved by Congress and probably will not be, and it was premature for them to begin terminating procedures," added Hutchison, a member of the 30-member panel.

Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, who has been pushing a similar effort in the House Appropriations Committee, said he was "encouraged" by the Senate committee's action to "help save America's manned space program."

Culberson added: "I will continue to use every resource at my disposal to ensure that America maintains its competitive edge in space."

The spending package could be the only major spending measure to clear Congress before the mid-term congressional elections in November.

Many lawmakers are starting to talk about adopting continuing resolutions to sustain spending levels for the federal government next year at the same level as the spending this year.

The language declares that NASA funds "shall be available to fund continued performance of Constellation contracts, and performance of such Constellation contracts may not be terminated for convenience by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Fiscal Year 2010."

Lawmakers have been pressing NASA administrator Charles Bolden about alleged efforts by NASA to begin terminating or adjusting contracts with aerospace firms that have been working on the Bush-era Constellation program.

Obama wants to kill the program and shift the money to extending the life of the International Space Station, fostering a fledgling commercial spacecraft industry and putting greater emphasis on earth science missions.

e-mail: stewart.powell@chron.com