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-The_Blazer- t1_itlu8q7 wrote

Reply to comment by Bewaretheicespiders in NASA has made a commitment to use the SLS for lunar missions until the early 2030s by ordering three new Orion crew capsules. by lughnasadh

Isn't it more the senate's fault? I read somewhere that there's a single senator who threatened to filibuster all of NASA's budget if they worked on orbital refueling programs, because those would have made the SLS, which is based in his state, unnecessary.

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Bewaretheicespiders t1_itlvvku wrote

Shelby, former chairman of Nasa's senate appropriation commitee. Im glad he's no longer in charge, but sad that so little has changed. NASA needs an administrator that can push against congress for the good of Nasa and its goals. Not an administrator that is a 80 yo former senator and was part of the problem in Congress (like Nelson).

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Delta4o t1_itn9c3p wrote

It's a giant job creation scam/extortion. They all want jobs (or contracts) for the amount of taxpayer money their state provides. It adds a ton of overhead and bureaucracy to get anything off of the ground (pun not intended).

The moment a space program is canceled it threatens jobs. They'll redirect that into other political decisions and eventually, you'll get space shuttle program version 3.4.216, the "almost to orbit" program.

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