FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

NASA's 'Friends' In Congress Absolutely Hate the Asteroid Retrieval Mission

If NASA boss Charles Bolden can't convince his allies on the Hill that the mission is worthwhile, how's he going to convince his enemies?
NASA administrator Charles Bolden Image: NASA

With friends like these, NASA administrator Charles Bolden sure has his work cut out for him if he wants the agency’s asteroid retrieval mission to continue as planned.

An International Space Station evacuation contingency plan wasn’t the only thing Bolden and members of the House Appropriations Committee locked horns over on Tuesday—members of the committee, who were discussing Bolden’s (and President Obama’s) budget request for 2015, made it clear to Bolden that they absolutely hate the fact that NASA has plans to capture an asteroid and bring it closer to Earth, rather than head directly to Mars or back to the moon.

Advertisement

“We support you and love you, but there’s not a lot of support for this asteroid mission in Congress,” John Culberson, a Tea Party Republican from Texas, told Bolden. “Money is so tight … it’s important to remember that an asteroid retrieval mission has not generated much interest.”

Since it was announced in 2010, Bolden has had to defend the asteroid mission, in which the agency plans to send a robotic, solar-powered spacecraft to grab an asteroid and bring it into orbit around the moon. NASA then plans to use its upcoming Orion spacecraft to send a manned mission to the asteroid to sample it and return fragments to Earth for study. Bolden has said that the mission is a stepping stone towards an eventual Mars mission in the 2030s, and that it’s an important test for solar propulsion and the Orion spacecraft.

Bolden says that the asteroid mission will allow NASA to run tests in cislunar space, a “proving ground” that’s located in the area closest to the moon.

“That’s where you develop the technology,” Bolden said. “The asteroid redirect mission allows us to get to cislunar space and fulfill a number of requirements [for eventually getting to mars], such as solar propulsion.”

As we mentioned when NASA’s proposed budget came out a few weeks ago, Bolden is trying to get as much funding for the asteroid project as possible before Obama’s final term ends—with long-term projects such as this, which is expected to take at least a decade, getting the project underway with a supportive President and Congress is often vital to the mission’s completion. To do that, approval from the appropriations committee sure wouldn't hurt. Some lawmakers have already proposed cutting the program entirely.

Culberson wasn’t the only one questioning the usefulness of the mission. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said that “the more [Congress] hears about [the asteroid mission], the less enthusiastic we are about it … everyone we talk to agrees with that.”

Culberson and Wolf aren’t just two random Congressmen who seem to disagree with NASA’s vision—Wolf has served for 10 years as the chairman of the appropriations committee that helps control NASA’s budget. Though conservative, he’s been generally supportive of NASA’s missions (though he banned the agency from collaborating with China on any missions). Culberson, meanwhile, is a Tea Partier who is obsessed with trying to send a mission to Europa, has introduced legislation that would make it easier for NASA projects to survive administration changes, and has been seen by many as Wolf’s natural successor when he retires in 2015. Their voices carry some weight.

Culberson told Bolden that he’s “got no better group of friends in Congress.”

If Bolden can’t even convince his friends this thing is worthwhile, how’s he going to convince his enemies?