HOUSTON -- There's a plan in front of the U.S. Senate to save the space shuttle program and possibly thousands of jobs in the Houston area, 11 News Reporter Jeremy Desel reported Wednesday.
Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison introduced a bill intended to save the shuttle program and NASA's push to develop its own new spacecraft.
President Barack Obama's budget plan released last month would allow the shuttle program to end this year and kill NASA's new spacecraft.
For now there are only four more shuttle flights scheduled. The next one set for April when Discovery launches.
That will leave a year’s long gap when American's cannot get to space without another nation’s help. It could also potentially cost thousands of jobs in Houston.
The Proposed Human Space Flight Capability Assurance and Enhancement Act would do several things:
Most importantly, it would make shuttle retirement dependent on having something to replace it with.
It would also mandate full-scale operation of the International Space Station through at least 2020 and provide for the acceleration of a government-owned human space flight capability as close to 2015 as possible.
It would also authorize top level funding for all NASA mission activities.
Hutchison says that it is simply unacceptable for America to be dependent on other nations for travel to space.
There is a companion bill that is being sponsored by two Florida U.S, representatives. That is being introduced next week.
