Obama signs Nasa up to new future

The change comes into effect with the signing by President Barack Obama of the Nasa Authorization Act 2010.

The legislation, passed by Congress last week, mandates the agency to fly the space station until 2020 and to launch one extra shuttle next year.

It also instructs Nasa to start work on a rocket for deep-space exploration.

The president's signature on the act brings to an end eight months of fractious debate on Capitol Hill about the future course of the agency.

Nasa's Administrator Charles Bolden told reporters: "Our nation's leaders have come together and endorsed a blueprint for Nasa, one that requires us to think and act boldly as we move our agency into the future. This legislation supports the president's ambitious plan for Nasa to pioneer new frontiers of innovation and discovery."

The act will mark a sea change in the way Nasa does some of its business, particularly in the realm of human spaceflight.

The legislation calls for $1.3bn to be allocated to the development of commercial crew services over the next three years.

The money will seed private companies to design and build rockets and capsules capable of delivering astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

The legislation also signals a formal end to the Constellation programme begun under President George Bush that sought to return humans to the Moon with a new spaceship called Orion and two new rockets called Ares 1 and Ares 5; Kazinform cites BBC.

See www.bbc.co.uk for full version