[
Updated 9/30/2010:  See the video of the "debate" and the voting here on CSPAN.  It begins at 10:51:20, with the video timestamp being "Live 8:57PM ET".

I strongly urge you to also skip it up to 11:25 timestamped 9:31PM ET, this is where Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Tucson presents her strong opposition - it is a very important part to hear and digest because these are exactly the issues that Commercial providers had better fight their damnedest to not let happen  If they do then there will be a major 'I told you so" and they will be put out of business.  Period. Hear that?  SpaceX and others, Rep Giffords has given you your true goals.  You should post her points in every room and in every cube so that your workers know exactly what to work hard against... don't muck it up.  Rockets fail as part of the learning experience of engineering and those costs are understood but look everywhere for ways to show that you are dedicated to fulfilling your promise, you are NOT NASA and so for you no quarter will be given for wasting tax money.

See Who voted and how on the NY Times politics page right here
]

304 to 118, in favor. Right or wrong, with its rights and its wrongs it is done.  Sort of. The House is adjourned till after the elections and the Senate version of HR5781, S3729, has been approved.

Jim Abrams of the Associated Press hit the wire (the Washington Post site link is here and also it is currently at Google News):

"It dismantles the Constellation program under which former President George W. Bush sought to return astronauts to the moon, and extends the life of the International Space Station from 2015 to 2020." ... "The bill relies mainly on the still-nascent commercial space industry to transport astronauts to the space station over the next five years. But in a nod to lawmakers concerned about NASA employees being laid off, it also continues to fund the shuttle program through the end of the current budget year a year from now."

Wall Street Journal report states:

" for the first time it endorses broad policy goals for private crew transportation to the international space station, as well as accelerated development by NASA of separate, heavy-lift family of rockets intended to take astronauts deeper into space."

It's not all happy, the opposers did - of course - have valid points.  But whatcha gonna do?  At least the Lockheed part of the status quo trinity has been shaken a bit.  At least there is some hope of giving NewSpace Commercial Crew & Cargo some rampup capital, here's praying that Commercial doesn't squander a second or a dime of this important and tenuous opportunity.

We now all have to stick to them like glue and watch them closely, it is still OUR money and we still absolutely require a return on our investment.  This is their chance... if they blow it it will all blow back to full government work.. or rather the established pattern of lack thereof.

Oh, and this all being Washington, we also have to keep watching those who should have just put this to bed already. The AP reports ends with this warning:

"The chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., said he was accepting the Senate version to ensure stability and clarity to the NASA workforce, but he had several concerns, including the cost of extending the shuttle program and the lack of a timetable for a government backup capability to commercial flights.

He said he would continue to press his views as the House determines actual spending levels for the 2011 fiscal year that begins Friday."

No wonder we're still all on Earth.

C'Mon SpaceX... take my money and make our sons and daughters a better future!