Shuttle Extension Plan Won't Fly With Safety Group

Independent safety experts say it would be dangerous to fly NASA shuttles beyond 2010, and doing so could lengthen a five-year gap in the nation's ability to launch American astronauts, NASA warns.

But some argue the 6,400 job cuts projected for Kennedy Space Center could be reduced by flying shuttles twice a year until replacement rockets and spaceships are ready.

U.S. Reps. Dave Weldon and Tom Feeney say it could be done by giving NASA about $2 billion more a year to pay for the added shuttle flights and speed up development of spacecraft for missions to the moon and Mars.

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