The amazing thing to me - living here in central Florida - is that the GOPe and their hand-picked candidates (Romney nationally, Connie Mack state) are not all over the fact that Obama has destroyed the US manned space program. In spite of the national security and technological/scientific implications, abandonment of manned space flight for the new reality of hitching rides in Russian space flights plus bucking up the collective insecurities and hurt feelings of the Muslim (yes, those folks again!) world, Obama’s policies (and those of his acolyte Democratic congress/Senate critters) have vitiated the Florida Space Coast region. There has been an immense brain drain from the KSC area and these engineers, scientists, mission technical people have left the region altogether.
I recall very distinctly Obama and Sen. Bill Nelson (his water carrier here in Florida) addressing the Space Coast directly in the ‘08 campaign and promising they would continue and even expand US manned space program. With their claims now shown to be bold-faced lies, you would think our side would be all over this - with speeches in the Space Coast and ads in our state - especially given the importance of Florida in the upcoming election. However, we’ve heard not a peep from our candidates (remember, these were the ones “best able to beat Obama”) either nationally or state-wide. The only Romney ads we see here in Florida are the convention speech snippet ads that are running in several states and the China manufacturing ads. Not a word about the Space Program that truly defined the US for the last 50 years. Not a word about the bold-faced lies that Obama and Nelson told last time around. Not a word about the local effects of Obama policies (backed by Nelson) on the residents of a large swath of electorally critical Florida.
Glad to see that the wise folks who gave us the sterling national campaigns of Ford, Dole, GHWB, and McCain are all over this space issue!!
It’s been a “perfect storm” for Obama. The “grow-government, hate capitalism” Marxist dropped a bomb on NASA that would stop us from being competitive alongside the rising ability of other countries, who are catching up and will pass us.
“Commercial” has been the smoke and mirrors he’s used to get it done. Once the idea that there isn’t enough market for “commercial” (that our tax money is subsidizing out of NASA’s dwindling budget), all the infrastructure and specialized, technical workforce will be history. Then they will pull the plug on the new space companies and our superpower status will be one giant leap closer to being a bad joke and our enemies will be closer to overtaking our technical prowess.
All our satellites (commercial and military) will be in reach of those who still plan to fly in space (to ISS and beyond LEO) to service or what ever they choose - while we will have to now depend on “treaties” and UN agreements about how they should “play nice” in space.