Lawmakers: Funding Shortfall May Lead to Mothballed Space Shuttle

Published: Dec 17, 2005
Source: www.space.com



Several lawmakers have warned President Bush in a letter that if NASA doesn't get the budget it seeks for 2007 to 2010, it would have to retire shuttle Atlantis immediately, cutting jobs and gutting the vision for space exploration.

The Office of Management and Budget's plan would "under-fund the Shuttle program by $3 billion to $6 billion," a Dec. 9 letter says, leading to "the immediate retirement of the Shuttle Atlantis and a cut from the needed 19 Shuttle missions to between 8 and 11 missions."

John Logsdon, director of George Washington University's Space Policy Institute, said a proposal to go to two orbiters has little support.

"It would mean that NASA couldn't honor its international commitments," he said, "and the policy people at the White House have said that's not acceptable."continue..