NASA Direction Needed Soon

The inclusion of additional NASA funding ($1 billion, with $400 million for 'exploration')in the huge 'stimulus' package raises some intriguing issues (aside from the obvious one about the mix of useful and dubious measures in the enormous package that was just rushed through Congress). A NASA Spaceflight.com article discusses possible options to close the 'gap' between Shuttle operations and future US human spaceflight activity.

While acceleration studies have been taking place for Constellation’s Ares and Orion vehicles, the alternative options of utilizing EELV vehicles - such as the Delta IV Heavy or the Atlas V Heavy - have been touted, along with the "Direct" proposal of using their Shuttle Derived Jupiter launch vehicles - which has gained increased interest and publicity over the last couple of years - to, as they claim, save money, shorten the gap, and avoid the shedding of Orion’s capabilities, as is currently required by Ares I’s performance shortcomings.

However, any major decision on altering the architecture for future human spaceflight will depend on the Obama administration choosing new NASA leadership, which hasn't happened yet, to review the situation and make the decisions within the framework of Obama administration policy, which is still not clear. Thus, any benefit of the additional NASA money in the 'stimulus' package may be diminished by delay in decisions on new leadership and how to best proceed with the future human spaceflight program.