Senate votes to fund NASA’s future…for now

Money for NASA...but will Constellation survive?

The Senate passed an $18.7 billion funding bill for NASA, including $3.8 billion for exploration. Beyond that, the Senate inserted language into the bill designed to protect the Constellation Program—NASA’s planned successor to the retiring space shuttle.

Will Constellation (the Ares rocket and Orion spacecraft) survive?

Well, first of all, the President has to sign the bill. And President Obama might not like the provision that requires Congress to give permission before the program could be canceled. More than that, a one-year commitment of money hardly guarantees the future of a long-term program like Constellation.

Also in the bill: money to develop a replacement for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, an environmental monitoring probe that failed to reach orbit some months back.

For now, it looks like the money may be flowing—but returning to the moon and perhaps going to Mars is going to require a firm, multi-year commitment. We’re not seeing that yet.