[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H2512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1045
                             CONSTELLATION

  (Mr. OLSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, before I left for the Easter district work 
period, the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee held a hearing on the 
proposed changes to NASA's exploration program. The administration is 
advocating an extreme change by canceling the Constellation Program, 
which I feel would be a mistake especially since the Constellation 
Program has passed their preliminary design review, a significant 
technological milestone.
  Back in 2008, the media portrayed thrust oscillation as a ``serious 
concern,'' but the program design review, the team spent about a minute 
on the issue of thrust oscillation. Why? Because the problem had been 
solved.
  To me, this is just another indication of why cancellation would be a 
mistake. It wouldn't just be throwing money, money already spent, $9 
billion, hardware already built, a workforce already in place, but a 
process in standard of doing business and fixing problems that NASA has 
developed for over 50 years.
  America has been the leader in human space flight for half a century, 
and this administration's budget proposal puts that at risk.

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