It’s been 14 years since then President Obama cut NASA’s Constellation program completely, effectively canceling a five-year, $9 billion effort to build new Orion spacecraft and Ares rockets. Now it looks like Capitol Hill is beginning to wake up from that long nightmare.
Last month Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, introduced H.R. 7687 “to amend title 51, United States Code, to authorize the transfer to NASA of funds from other agencies for scientific or engineering research or education.”
In a press release on the new legislation, Rep. Sorensen commented, “NASA does not currently have the authority to receive funds transferred from another agency to jointly support a project. This bill will streamline interagency collaboration and advance the missions of our science agencies.”
Rep. Sorensen noted that “NASA and other science agencies have been forced to jump through duplicative administrative hoops to collaborate on certain research and education projects. This bureaucratic red tape slows the pace of innovation and discovery.” H.R. 7687 cuts through the red tape.
Rep. Sorensen added, “Our agencies are on the cutting edge of science, and collaboration is key to achieving our shared goals while leveraging the unique expertise and capabilities of each agency.”
The bill has been referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
Maybe, just maybe, if Congress can get its act together, Strange New Worlds will actually appear in our future.