There are two space shuttle flights left before those vehicles are fully retired by NASA - if there's enough money left in the space agency budget.
Yep, that was one of the angles that came out of a Senate hearing yesterday on the space program, as Senators again complained about the future of NASA, and pressed officials for details on how the shuttle will be replaced.
NASA chieftains led by William Gerstenmaier performed yet another bureaucratic dance at the witness table, assuring Senators that they were working on plans for a new heavy lift rocket and crew vehicle, but leaving no discernible footprints on when any of that might actually start flying.
Gerstenmaier also warned Congress against making any budget cuts to NASA the rest of this year, saying it could derail the final shuttle flight, set for June.
"If we got a significant budget cut here in the Continuing Resolution, that could potentially cause some concerns," said Gerstenmaier.
Earlier this month, NASA chief Charlie Bolden was more blunt, saying "all bets would be off" if NASA suffered more budget cuts.
There is some money being chopped out of NASA this week in the 3-week stop gap budget bill that's going through Congress, as it would take $63 million out of the space agency's over $18 billion budget.
That's less than the $300 million cut in the House passed $61 billion cutback plan, which again drew the ire of Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida.
"How many jobs would that be that would be lost?" Nelson asked, getting an estimate of around 800 contracting jobs at the Kennedy Space Center.
One wonders if that means the $63 million cut would result in about one-fifth of the 800 mark in terms of job losses as well.
Instead of a celebratory end for the shuttle, the budget battle that's playing out on it right now in the Congress seems more like a messy funeral than anything else.
"Unless we get a pretty dramatic budget cut, we plan to go execute that (final) mission," said Gernstenmeier.
What's next after that? Basically, the human space flight arm of NASA would be stuffed in a drawer and put on hold.
There's talk of 'maybe' doing some test flights on a new rocket and crew vehicle in 2016, but no assurances from NASA officials, who keep talking about how they need more money.
But more money is not exactly high on the agenda for anyone right now.
It's not exactly a hero's kind of sendoff for the end of the shuttle program.
