Some interesting on-going discussions over at SpacePolitics.com….
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has picked up the endorsement of a major aerospace union, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE).
With a crucial Puerto Rico primary looming on June 1, Hillary Clinton is trying to save the Arecibo Observatory so it can continue to be used for radio astronomy and blown up in James Bond movies. (Probably more the former than the latter; what are the chances that a future Bond villain will launch another death star into orbit? Actually….pretty damn good, come to think of it.)
Down on Florida’s Space Coast, Republican Representative Tom Feeny and his Democratic challenger, Suzanne Kosmas, are fighting over who can best represent the region in Congress. What will the denizens of KSC decide?
Meanwhile, current members of Congress are fretting over the decision to retire the space shuttle in 2010 now that the Russian Soyuz has suffered its second Tower of Terror landing in a row. They don’t seem convinced by the Russian space chief Anatoly Perminov’s belief that we should simply limit the number of women aboard the space station. That’s definitely a sign of progress in at least one country….
HOUSE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE PRESS RELEASE
(Washington, DC) – The House Science and Technology Committee’s Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee held a hearing today to examine the state of NASA’s space and Earth science programs as reflected in the Administration’s FY09 budget. This hearing, dedicated specifically to NASA’s science programs, builds upon the Committee’s recent look at the agency’s overall FY09 budget.
“NASA’s science program has long been one of the agency’s ‘crown jewels’, and it has delivered outstanding results since the dawn of the Space Age 50 years ago—results that have rewritten the scientific textbooks and captivated the imagination of the public both here and around the world.,” stated Subcommittee Chairman Mark Udall (D-CO). “I want to see that record of accomplishment and inspiration continue. However, I’m concerned that NASA’s science program is facing an uncertain future under the funding plan offered by the Administration.”
Continue reading ‘House Committee: NASA Science Funding Inadequate’
The Mars Society’s Alex Kirk has an interesting story over at The Space Review about the Space Exploration Alliance’s recent lobbying of Congress. Space enthusiasts from throughout the country spent two days visiting 123 Senate and House offices, pushing for more space funding and informing staff members about key issues of concern to the space community.
“The results of these meetings were predictably mixed,” Kirk reported. “Some offices continued to show the strong support they have given NASA over the years; others continued to emphasize other priorities, such as food stamps and Medicaid, over full funding for the NASA budget. The vast majority of the offices visited, however, were somewhere in between these two extremes.”
