WASHINGTON,
D.C. – During a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing today on funding for
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce, Science, and
Transportation Committee, questioned NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on
President Obama’s restated vision for the space agency. Senator Hutchison
raised concerns about the real risk of losing the space station without a space
shuttle or replacement capability.
“The
President’s plan for NASA has incredible consequences for our nation and sends
a very mixed message,” said Senator Hutchison. “The President says he is
committed to science. I don’t see how you can have a commitment to science, but
don’t have a commitment to sending humans into space. The space station right
now is a key area of science. The space station is the future and Congress and
the President have embraced extending the space station until 2020. I am
skeptical and very disappointed that we would have a goal of keeping
science in the forefront, but no plan to keep people involved in that effort.”
Senator
Hutchison also said that at the end of shuttle operations, the only vehicle
available to carry any crew members to or from the space station is the Russian
Soyuz. “What would happen if there were an accident with the Soyuz that
is serious enough to ground it for an extended period of time and we don’t have
our own reliable efforts?” Senator Hutchison said. “More importantly, how long
would it be before the six-person crew still aboard the ISS would have to
evacuate—using two of the very same Soyuz vehicles that just experienced a
critical failure, assuming the failure occurred on descent?”
Senator
Hutchison went on to ask Administrator Bolden about a number of specific issues
that relate to the current planned retirement of the shuttle program and the
future sustainability of the International Space Station (ISS). She said
that there is no firm date on when a commercial crew launch system might be
fully operational. Senator Hutchison also voiced her concerns that
without the shuttle to resupply the space station, there would be no way to
deliver spare or replacement parts. She noted that these spare parts
might be essential to addressing unexpected problems in the short run that
might endanger the station, or may be important to extending the life of the
station from 2015 until 2020.
Near
the end of Administrator Bolden’s time before the Senate Appropriations
subcommittee, Senator Hutchison urged him to take her concerns back to the
president about the risk to the space station, which would undermine the
ability to maintain a human spaceflight capability.
“We
can fix it,” Senator Hutchison said. “I hope that all of the Senators who
are interested in this will work with you and with the Administration. We can
do better than this.”
Senator
Hutchison also invited Administrator Bolden to appear at a hearing she has
requested for April 28, 2010 before the Senate Commerce, Science, and
Transportation Committee.
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You
can view Senator Hutchison’s statement here.