Nov 22 2005
From The Space Library
President George W. Bush signed into law Pub. L. No. 109-108, legislation that provided US$16.5 billion in appropriations to NASA for FY 2006. In the bill's conference report, Congress noted some specific programs that it wanted NASA to pursue. For example, Congress specified that NASA use the funds to develop the Crew Exploration Vehicle and Crew Launch Vehicle, as described in the Exploration Systems Architecture Study, NASA's master plan for meeting the goals of the Vision for Space Exploration. Moreover, Congress also directed NASA to make more effective use of NASA Television~NASA's own television station, which it had primarily used for internal communications~to promote public knowledge about and interest in space exploration. (H.R. Rep. 109-272, at 169 (2005) (Conf. Rep.); NASA, “NASA Administrator's Statement of Passage of FY 2006 Budget,” news release 05-407, 16 November 2005.)
President George W. Bush signed into law Pub. L. No. 109-112, the Iran Nonproliferation Act, which effectively allowed U.S. astronauts to continue flying on Russian spacecraft, thereby maintaining the United States' access to the ISS. The terms of the original act, passed in 2000, did not permit U.S. government agencies to make “extraordinary payments” to Russia, including purchasing space on Soyuz spacecraft, unless the President of the United States had certified that Russia was not exporting missile and nuclear technologies to Iran. However, at the time that Congress had passed the original act, Russia had an agreement with the United States to provide 11 free voyages on Soyuz spacecraft to U.S. astronauts, so that NASA did not have to purchase space on Soyuz. In September 2005, American astronaut William S. McArthur Jr. had become the 11th U.S. passenger on a Soyuz, and, subsequently, Russia had required payment for any carriage of U.S. astronauts. Therefore, NASA had asked Congress to amend the act so that it could buy space on Russian spacecraft. (Guy Gugliotta, “U.S. Access to Space Station Is Preserved,” Washington Post, 11 November 2005.)
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