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Congressman Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) has again written to the President requesting that he include in his budget sufficient funding for NASA’s human space flight program in order to keep his commitment to close the gap and maintain America’s lead role in space exploration. Specifically, Rep. Posey requests that the President include funding necessary to provide for additional Shuttle flights beyond 2010. The President is set to release his budget plans for Fiscal Year 2011 on February 1, 2010.

“We will be locked into a space flight gap of up to six years unless bold decisions are made in this budget,” said Congressman Posey. “For an amount equal to less than 1% of last year’s stimulus bill, we could fly the Shuttle for an additional five years close the space gap and keep America first in space.”

Rep. Posey has been an advocate for continuing to use the Shuttle until a new NASA or domestic commercial human space launch vehicle is available. He introduced legislation, H.R. 1962, last April that would authorize this policy.

Absent sufficient funding in the President’s FY 2011 budget, NASA will end Space Shuttle flights at the conclusion of the International Space Station (ISS) assembly missions either late this year or in early 2011. At that point Posey says in his letter, the United States will cede its leadership in space to other nations and lock itself into a sole reliance on the Russians to fly U.S. astronauts to the ISS until a new U.S. vehicle comes on line – a process that could take as many as six years.

To read Congressman Posey’s full letter to the President, click here.