Concerned that NASA is dragging its feet in revamping its space program, a Senate panel sought assurances from Obama administration officials on Wednesday that NASA would carry out the orders it had been given for the next three years.
Those orders, which President Barack Obama signed into law in September, include scrapping a program to send astronauts to the moon in favor of a heavy-lift rocket for deep-space missions.
The hearing, by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, was the latest tussle over the future of sending astronauts into space. Unlike most disagreements in Washington, which divide Republicans and Democrats, the NASA debate has largely been a schism between the White House and Congress.
Dr. John P. Holdren, the president’s science adviser, assured the committee that NASA had every intention of doing what it was supposed to.
The New York Times
