Washington, D.C. — Rep. Mo Brooks, R-AL05, today questioned NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Jr., about the agency’s back-up plan should Russia decide to stop giving American astronauts a ride to the International Space Station.
Bolden, who President Obama appointed to head NASA in 2009, testified that the Obama Administration essentially has no back-up plan for human space flight if the US-Russia relationship continues to deteriorate.
“This Administration made the unilateral 2010 decision to cancel NASA’s human space flight Constellation program,” Brooks said in response to Bolden’s testimony. “This Administration made the decision to mothball our space shuttles and put them in museums, rather than keeping them available should circumstances or emergencies dictate their use.”
Bolden also testified that the soonest American space flight could resume is 3½ years away via the “commercial crew” space effort. He said NASA is not concerned about the lack of a plan, though, because Russia is unlikely to deny American astronauts the access they need since Russia relies on America to help operate the Space Station.
After a tense exchange between Brooks and Bolden, the NASA chief seemingly compared the possibility of the Russians cutting the US off to the possibility that an astroid could collide with the planet.
“This is like asteroids,” Bolden said condescendingly. “We have a plan, the plan needs to be funded, and the plan is commercial crew.
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Congressman Brooks, who is the Vice-Chair of the Space Subcommittee, again responded to Bolden’s testimony saying, “NASA must have a viable backup plan to quickly get Americans into space if Russia stops giving us rides to the Space Station. NASA’s current 3½ year back-up plan is effectively no back-up plan at all.”
Later in the committee meeting, Brooks asked Bolden what would happen if the Russians suddenly decided to deny Americans the ability to go to the Space Station. Bolden laid out a sequence of events that would include the shuttering of the space station and the termination of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion, two programs that directly impact jobs in north Alabama.
“The partners would probably have to shut the Space Station down (if the Russians quit giving Americans a ride),” said Bolden. “(If that happens), I will go to the President and recommend that we terminate SLS and Orion…”
Brooks released a statement after the meeting urging NASA to develop a strategy for freeing the United States’ space program from having to rely on Russia to achieve its missions.
“Administrator Bolden was quite clear,” said Brooks. “If Russia stops giving America rides to the Space Station, then America not only risks losing the Space Station, the Obama Administration would compound the problem by canceling the Space Launch System and Orion. Administrator Bolden’s testimony underscores America’s need for sufficient funding for launch vehicle development. We simply cannot use Russia as a crutch for America’s space program any longer.”
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