Griffin: Shuttle-CEV Gap Unacceptable

This is news. From congressional testimony reported at:

"http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=753&e=1&u=/ap/20050412/ap_on_go_co/nasa_chief&sid=84439559"

" Griffin also agreed with senators that there was an
unacceptable gap between the planned retirement, no
later than 2010, of the space shuttle, and the launch
some five years later of the next-generation manned
vehicle, called the Crew Exploration Vehicle."

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record),
R-Texas, who heads the Commerce Committee's panel on
science and space, said such a hiatus was "a security
issue for our country."

Griffin concurred: "I do not believe we would wish to
see a situation where the United States is dependent
on any partners, reliable or unreliable" for access
to space."