NEWS RELEASE:
NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY SAYS SPACE STATION FRUSTRATIONS UNIVERSAL, BUT FOR DIFFERENT REASONS

(Washington, DC) -- In response to an announcement earlier today by U.S. Representative Tim Roemer (D-IN) of his intentions to offer an amendment tomorrow to terminate funding for space station, the National Space Society made the following statement:

"Everyone can find something to be frustrated about with the space station," said NSS Executive Director Pat Dasch, "however, canceling funding for the project is not the answer. Substituting space shuttle flights for a space station is not an answer; they're equally costly over time (at $400 million per launch) and shuttle does not provide a platform for long duration research in space.

The solution lies not in eleventh-hour calls for cancellation, but in passing well-prepared and well-worked legislation that is ready and waiting to bring discipline and accountability to the process. It lies in the Congress, NASA and the Administration reaching consensus on the Russian funding and critical path participation issues as soon as possible.

Nothing great has ever been accomplished by walking away. Walking away from space station means walking away from the future of human spaceflight as we know it in the near-term. In the end, what will stem the tide of frustration surrounding space station will be the elected officials who, instead, sit down and work together to clear a path to construction and successful utilization of our first permanently occupied home in space."