YES!!! From the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology:
Committee Approves NASA Bill Supporting U.S. Space Leadership
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee today approved a two-year NASA Authorization bill that restores balance to NASA’s budget and supports its role as the only government agency responsible for space exploration. The NASA Authorization Act for 2016 and 2017 is a budget-neutral bill that was introduced earlier this week by Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) alongside lead sponsor Congressman Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) and fifteen other cosponsors. The bill’s policy provisions largely mirror that of the House-passed NASA Authorization Act of 2015, a one-year bill that passed with unanimous bipartisan support in February 2015. The bill drew letters of support from the Coalition for Space Exploration, the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, the Planetary Society, and the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership/Citizens for Spaceflight Exploration-Texas.
“Today’s bill is a step in the right direction to ensure that NASA will continue to innovate and inspire,” stated Chairman Lamar Smith. “The Authorization levels for FY16 and FY17 included in this bill provide NASA with the resources necessary to remain a leader in space exploration in a time of tight budget realities. For more than 50 years, the U.S. has led the world in space exploration. We must restore balance to NASA’s budget if we want to ensure the U.S. continues to lead in space for the next 50 years. And we must continue to invest in NASA as the only government agency responsible for space exploration.”
A bit more - reading between the lines:
The Committee bill focuses NASA’s efforts to develop a capability to access the International Space Station so that we can once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil. It also increases support for the Space Launch System and the Orion Crew Vehicle – systems being developed to take astronauts to deep-space destinations like Mars – in an attempt to keep the programs on schedule for a 2017 launch date. The Obama administration has consistently cut funding for these human space exploration programs, while increasing funding for the Earth Science Division by more than 63 percent. The bill provides a total authorization level that matches NASA’s budget request, providing that current restraints within the Budget Control Act are satisfied.
Earth Science Division? That would be global warming. Cutting the funding for this unnecessary office is overdue - there has been no warming for over 18 years, our climate is driven by our sun and our sun has been in a cool mode and is showing no signs of warming up. If anything, the warnings about cooling from the 1970's are turning out to be prescient.
Our race to the moon not only boosted our economy, it created thousands of technology spin-offs that we are still enjoying today. Pure research is good for business. Climate science cannot prove their own models.
