Providing NASA the relief it needs from the Iran Nonproliferation Act in order to pay Russia for Soyuz rides to the international space station is not the only piece of unfinished space business awaiting U.S. lawmakers upon their return to Washington: The first NASA authorization bill since 2000 and the U.S. space agency’s 2006 budget request also are awaiting final passage.

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Brian Berger is editor in chief of SpaceNews.com and the SpaceNews magazine. He joined SpaceNews.com in 1998, spending his first decade with the publication covering NASA. His reporting on the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident was recognized with...