Direction of NASA’s manned spaceflight program remains unclear

Science : Although a US House of Representatives subcommittee approved a budget of $19 billion for NASA for FY 2011âmdash;the amount requested by the Obama administrationâmdash;it refrained from taking a position on the White House’s space exploration plan. Some members of Congress, both inside and outside the committee, oppose two of the plan’s central proposals: canceling the Constellation program and using commercial rockets to replace the space shuttle. Because the bill that funds NASA is unlikely to be passed before the November elections, Constellation’s fate and the future direction of NASA’s manned spaceflight program are likely to remain uncertain into the next fiscal year.