Mariah II funding bill passed to President Bush

A $418 billion Defense Department spending bill that Congress passed on Thursday night includes $10.5 million for the Mariah II Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Program in Butte. The bill was passed by both the House and Senate and is expected to be signed into law by President Bush.

The total for the wind tunnel project is less than the $15 million that was included in the original Senate version. That bill had to be reconciled with a House-passed version that provided $6 million for the wind tunnel project.

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the 13 spending bills that Congress must pass each year. The wind tunnel has been a top priority for Burns and as a member of the committee he is able to guarantee that it receives a significant amount of money.

MSE Technology Applications Inc. runs the Mariah program, which aims to test the structural integrity of aircraft. It is the only laboratory in the world that is being built to be capable of testing planes of speeds of up to Mach six. Planes that travel at speeds of up to Mach five are described as supersonic, while those that can travel of speeds of Mach six or more are described as hypersonic.

The Butte tunnel is essential for guaranteeing the structural integrity of jets designed to fly at Mach six. The overall bill provides $68.5 million for projects in Montana. The original Senate passed version provided $85 million for projects in Montana.

Besides the $10 million for the wind tunnel project, the bill also provides between $1 million and $4.5 million for other projects throughout the state.