https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/08/05/nasa-to-congress-want-to-stop-using-russian-capsules-to-get-to-space-let-us-work/Ever since we mothballed our last space shuttle in 2011, we've been relying on Russian spacecraft to help put U.S. astronauts into space. It's not a little embarrassing, as it basically means renting seats on Soyuz capsules like you're a budget passenger on some Greyhound bus to low-Earth orbit. And now, NASA says, we're about to throw even more money at the Kremlin because Congress is holding back a program aimed at replacing the space shuttle.
In a letter to lawmakers Wednesday, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said his agency is extending a contract with the Russian government to the tune of $490 million. The contract pays for the transportation of crew and supplies to the International Space Station and back, among other missions. To stop relying on the Russians, NASA is working with Boeing and SpaceX to develop a space shuttle replacement that would let us launch astronauts from U.S. soil again. But NASA complains that the so-called Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program has been underfunded from its inception. In its first year, Congress allocated only half of what NASA proposed.
