Obama Steps Up

In the midst of a major financial crisis and a tight presidential election campaign, Sen. Barack Obama sent a letter to the Democratic leaders of both houses of Congress urging them to pass legislation soon that will allow NASA astronauts to fly on Russian Soyuz flights beyond 2011.

Further, Obama called for funding additional shuttle flights after the scheduled end of the program in 2010 as a way to close the gap between shuttle and Orion, as well as a way to maintain the skilled NASA workforce.

Last month, Sen. John McCain, joining with other senators, called on NASA to refrain from doing anything that would preclude shuttle flights after 2010.