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Another blow to Hangar One restoration

The Senate Committee on Appropriations has killed President Obama's $32.8 million request to restore Moffett Field's Hangar One in its markup of the 2012 federal budget, just as the House Committee on Appropriations did in July.

The Senate committee gave the same reason as the House committee, saying only that it was "due to concerns raised in a June 2011 NASA inspector general report."

The report questioned the need to fund the restoration of the historic building when other more "mission critical" projects would be delayed. In response to that report, NASA is studying the cost of several options for the hangar, which is due by the end of the year.

Lenny Siegel, a member of the Save Hangar One Committee who last week delivered a 2,700-signature petition to Congress members urging that funds be appropriated to re-skin the hangar, said in an email that it was "unrealistic" to expect Congress to appropriate money for the hangar while the study was being conducted.

"This means that no funding is likely until fiscal year 2013, although with the anticipated delays in the overall appropriations process this year, there is a very remote chance that a positive NASA report might lead to re-inserting funding this year," Siegel wrote.

-Daniel DeBolt