[2]Colorado's senior senator is exerting seemingly significant efforts to convince NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to re-evaluate a proposal to cancel Constellation, a program that would return humans to the moon. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, with a home base in south Jefferson County, is the prime contractor for the Orion crew vehicle, a critical piece of the Constellation project. Senator Mark Udall, a Democrat, has suggested to Bolden a restructuring of the Constellation program so "some Orion-like effort could move forward," allowing Lockheed to stay "up and doing what it is doing right now" (via The Denver Post [3]). While it's unclear whether Udall (pictured) has been convincing, state Representative Frank McNulty, a Highlands Ranch Republican whose constituents would be affected by a shut-down, questions whether Colorado lawmakers have done enough to salvage the program. That peeves Congressman Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat who says Colorado's delegation, including Republican Congressmen Mike Coffman and Doug Lamborn, has urged the Obama administration to keep the program, (via The Associated Press [4]). Coffman says Lockheed Martin employees in Colorado told him NASA has stopped returning their phone calls and e-mails regarding ongoing work. He emphasizes, however, that no congressional decision has been made on Constellation or Orion (via the Denver Business Journal [5]). Coffman adds that without some kind of manned space-flight program, the United States could end up relying on Russia and China to launch space-based vehicles.