Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was chosen to chair the House Science and Technology Committee space and aeronautics subcommittee that oversees NASA, and authorizes its programs.

Gifford’s husband, Mark Kelley, is a NASA astronaut.

Her selection means that she will lead the subcommittee next year, when NASA comes to a critical decision point as to whether to retire the space shuttle fleet by October that year, as President Bush commanded, or whether to authorize more shuttle flights.

If the shuttles retire next year, that would save money to be used to develop the next-generation U.S. spacecraft system, Orion-Ares, which will replace the shuttles. However, Orion-Ares won’t have its first manned flight until 2015, or 2014 at the earliest, leaving half a decade in which NASA won’t be able to get a single astronaut off the ground, not even to low Earth orbit.

Some on the committee, and in the Senate, would like to see increased NASA funding to cover additional shuttle flights beyond the deadline. Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin estimated running two added shuttle flights per year would cost $3 billion annually, for a total of $15 billion over five years until Orion-Ares begins crewed flights.

While Giffords will play a key role in managing authorizing (enabling) legislation for NASA, deciding which NASA programs will be launched and continued, the committee doesn’t write the appropriations bill that actually pours dollars into NASA and its programs. Rather, the space agency funding measure is written in the House Appropriations Committee commerce, justice, science and related agencies subcommittee.

Giffords was placed in the subcommittee chair by her fellow Democrats on the committee, and the full committee is expected to confirm her selection in a meeting Wednesday.

"I am honored to take on a leadership role," Giffords said. "Under the focused and bipartisan guidance of [Gordon], we are aggressively promoting scientific advancements that are key to U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace. Smart research and development investments in several federal agencies, including NASA, will help create the innovations that will drive economic growth and create new jobs."

Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Colo.), chairman of the full committee, announced Giffords would lead the panel.

"Having gotten to know Gabrielle over the past two years, I think she would be good at anything she does," Gordon said. "The committee and the nation are fortunate that she has chosen the space and aeronautics subcommittee," said Gordon. "The issues before the subcommittee are complex, but I know that she will play an effective leadership role in addressing them. The country owes a large part of its technical edge and our economic competitiveness to work done at NASA, and we need to ensure that we maximize NASA’s relevance to addressing the science and technology challenges that will be facing the nation in the coming years."

Other Democrats serving on the subcommittee are Reps. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, Parker Griffith of Alabama, David Wu of Oregon, Donna Edwards of Maryland, Steven Rothman of New Jersey, Baron Hill of Indiana, Charles Wilson of Ohio and Alan Grayson and Suzanne Komas of Florida.

Subcommittee chairs and membership assignments are made based on members’ preferences, in order of seniority as assigned by the Steering and Policy Committee, as space allows, and following the procedure laid out in the caucus rules.