NASA Underfunded, Space Shuttle Missions Still Risky, Report Says.

The U.S. space program is fraught with funding and safety questions, according to a report to Congress by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

NASA, as it attempts to fulfill President Bush's vision of a manned return to the moon followed by manned missions to Mars and beyond, struggles with "critical questions," according to the report issued last week. It was authored by Carl E. Behrens, specialist in energy policy with CRS.

First there is the problem of persistent funding shortfalls in the space agency, according to the report.

Secondly, there is the fact that the space shuttle, the lifeline for the International Space Station (ISS), still is filled with risks in every flight, even though it is a quarter of a century since the first shuttle launch, the report states.

Finally, there is the question of what to do with the space station after the shuttles finish carrying its components into orbit and fastening them to the ISS. The shuttles at that point, in 2010, will retire, to be replaced by the much smaller Crew Exploration Vehicle that won't boast the giant cargo bay found on the shuttle.

A key shuttle flight to resume the ISS construction job, carrying a giant truss into space, was the assigned mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Both the House and Senate are moving legislation that would provide a bit more than $6 billion of funding for the shuttle and ISS in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2007.