House Joins Senate in Push to Extend International Space Station
House Joins Senate in Push to Extend International Space Station
WASHINGTON - A key member of the House of Representatives announced on September 26 that it is introducing legislation that Extend the operations of the International Space Station until 2030., weeks later the senators looked for a similar extension.
In his opening statement at a hearing on the space subcommittee of the House of Representatives on the past and future of NASA's space exploration efforts, Representative Brian Babin (R-Texas), chairman of the subcommittee, said that He was introducing a law called the Main Law of Human Space Flight that he said was designed to "provide more direction for Congress to NASA."
The text of the bill, designated. H.R. 6910, was not available immediately. However, Babin said in his comments that a provision of the bill would extend the existing authorization to operate the ISS from 2024 to 2030 unless a viable and less expensive commercial alternative was available before.
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"As I said before, the ISS is the jewel in the crown of the United States human space flight program," he said. "Leadership in [low Earth orbit] returns tremendous economic benefits of space exploration to Earth. "
During the hearing, Babin asked the witnesses, who included NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration and Human Operations, Bill Gerstenmaier and the directors of three NASA field centers, what the agency was doing to prevent "another breach of harmful capacity "through their transition efforts to the ISS.
Gerstenmaier referred to a NASA ISS transition plan published earlier this year. "We treat that very seriously," he said, citing studies given in August to a dozen companies to look for business opportunities. "We will see what the industry is interested in and what they can offer, and therefore, we will build a smooth transition so that we do not have an abrupt end to one program and then start another."
"I think it's critical that we have a follow-up to the International Space Station, that we have a plan for low Earth orbit," said Bob Cabana, director of the Kennedy Space Center. "It is essential that we have a destination for our business partners, both for the crew and for the cargo."
The proposed extension of the IEE to 2030 in the House Bill reflects the language of the Space Borders Act introduced in the Senate in July. That bill It was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee on August 1. and awaits the action of the full Senate.
At a simultaneous hearing of the Senate space subcommittee, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the subcommittee and principal sponsor of the Space Border Act, reiterated his desire to extend the ISS. "US taxpayers have invested more than $ 100 billion in the ISS, and it is important that we maximize the return on investment of taxpayers," he said in his opening comments.
Cruz also stressed the geopolitical angle and noted that the Chinese plans to establish its first permanent crew station in low Earth orbit by the year 2022. "We can not give Earth's low orbit to China or to any another nation, "he said. "The government of the United States should consider having a permanent human presence in low Earth orbit, which may require a government station after the ISS reaches the end of its useful operation."
Later, Cruz asked the only witness of his audience, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, about his concerns. NASA seeks to abandon the ISS in 2024, leaving China with the only operational space station. "To make it perfectly clear," Bridenstine replied, "there is no plan to deorbit the International Space Station."
Bridenstine emphasized NASA's plans for the transition from low-Earth orbit operations to the commercial sector, which he argued would result in technological innovations and reduced costs. He said there are companies interested in establishing "consortiums" that could operate the ISS commercially.
Then, Cruz asked Bridenstine if it would be "completely unacceptable" for China to have the only space station in Earth's orbit, to which Bridenstine responded: "Yes, 100 percent." Then Cruz asked if it was technically feasible for the ISS to operate until 2030. "It's probably possible," Bridenstine responded, but added that it would depend on risk and cost.
Bridenstine, in an interview on September 24 at a luncheon at the Washington Space Business Roundtable, said an extension of the ISS would have an impact on other NASA exploration initiatives given the agency's projected budgets. "We can extend the International Space Station, and if Congress wants to give us much more money, we will accept it," he said. "But the reality is that, given our current budget constraints, if we want to go to the Moon and we want to go to Mars, we need to market low Earth orbit and move on to the next step."
This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to cover all aspects of the space industry.
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