The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a NASA authorization bill this week that would forbid the U.S. space agency from retiring the space shuttle before completing all remaining missions, including an additional flight to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the International Space Station.

A similar provision was included in the NASA authorization bill already approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. But the Senate version, approved Tuesday, differs in that it would direct NASA to keep all space shuttle contracts open through 2010, the date NASA intends to stop flying the vehicle.

Veteran space shuttle astronaut Barbara R. Morgan will leave NASA in August to become an educator at Idaho's Boise State University.

NASA's first educator astronaut, Morgan logged more than 305 hours in space aboard shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 assembly mission to the International Space Station in August 2007. She operated the shuttle and station robotic arms to install hardware, inspect the orbiter and support spacewalks. Morgan also served as loadmaster for the transfer of supplies between the shuttle and station, taught lessons from space to schoolchildren on Earth and served on the flight deck during re-entry and landing.