Houston Space News ExaminerMark WhittingtonPosted on 06/05/2010 5:40:57 PM PDT by tricky_k_1972
Senator Hutchison cool to SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch; concerns remain about Obama NASA policy
The near universal acclaim that SpaceX has acquired for the successful launch of the first Falcon 9 is not shared within the United States Congress, which is still skeptical of many aspects of the Obama space plan, which includes reliance on companies like SpaceX for Earth to Low Earth Orbit transportation. The reaction illustrates for all the technical triumph that SpaceX has accomplished with the Falcon 9 launch, it still faces political problems.
Typical was the reaction of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, who represents workers in and around the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“This first successful test flight of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is a belated sign that efforts to develop modest commercial space cargo capabilities are showing some promising signs. While this test flight was important, the program to demonstrate commercial cargo and crew transport capabilities, which I support, was intended to enhance not replace NASA's own proven abilities to deliver critical cargo and humans to low Earth orbit. Make no mistake, even this modest success is more than a year behind schedule, and the project deadlines of other private space companies continue to slip as well. This test does not change the fact that commercial space program are not ready to close the gap in human spaceflight if the space shuttle is retired this year with no proven replacement capability and the Constellation program is simultaneously cancelled as the President proposes."
Senator Hutchison’s reaction was as understandable as it was a little bit unfair. Several thousand jobs at Houston’s JSC are going away, largely thanks to the Obama space plan that confirms the end of the space shuttle program but also cancels the Constellation space exploration program that might have offset some of those jobs losses. Job retraining money, lavish for Florida aerospace workers, has not been forthcoming for Texas space employees.
At the same time, the Falcon 9 project is not unique for being behind schedule and over budget. That seems to be the rule for almost every large scale space technology development project.
SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk’s reaction was quite caustic. According to Space.Com.
“Musk took offense at her complaints. ‘I don't understand why she's trying to hurt a Texas company,’ he said, pointing out that Hutchison represents Texas, and SpaceX has a large workforce in the state.
"’This is an important step in the advancement of commercial space,’ he maintained.”
Unfortunately, Elon Musk may have made a political misstep by being angry when he should have been conciliatory. The Texas jobs being generated by SpaceX go nowhere near to those being lost at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
At the same time, unfair or not, Senator Hutchison has a considerable say in the future of Mr. Musk’s company. The Wall Street Journal suggests that it will take a billion dollars in government money to configure the Falcon 9 and the Dragon space craft for human space flight. If, as many expect, the Republicans take over Congress this year, that money will be controlled by Senator Hutchison and other Obamaspace skeptics such as Richard Shelby of Alabama, who was also cool to the launch of Falcon 9. Elon Musk will have to do better than he has already to convince Congress that his company deserves that kind of money.
I know she is trying to protect the jobs of here constituents, but we as conservatives are suppose to like it when a Private company takes away Government bureaucracy.
I do not like the language she uses here either,
"This first successful test flight of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is a belated sign that efforts to develop modest commercial space cargo capabilities are showing some promising signs.
Belated, really, none of those Guvment programs were Belated, they all came in on time and on budget, you really want to go there.
It pretty much disgusts me when the suposed Right uses Lefty arguments and tries for a little government protectionism.
Shame Sen Hutchison, Shame, maybe you should do a little more looking toward helping grow those private industry jobs by lowering their taxes and amending the UN Space Treaty then protecting jobs that come at the expense of the American taxpayers good money at the point of a gun.
And I support NASA, NUTS!
Liberals wouldn’t like the free market taking over for the government.
“that it will take a billion dollars in government money to configure the Falcon 9 and the Dragon space craft for human space flight.”
So it will take a billion dollars to get this company so they can get ready to accept a few billion more.
If they want to be successful as a private industry then they should compete as a private industry. Not on the govt teat.
She will hear from me. Again. Not that it will do any good.
/johnny
I echo everything you've said. I saw Hutchison's comments yesterday, and they SHOCKED me. What happened to the Republican principles that used to celebrate private enterprise?
Look, I'm not a fan of Musk. Tesla, and some of his movie ventures annoy the crap out of me. But, he's got just as much right to compete in the free market as anyone. If Tesla is successful, as unlikely as that may be, more power to him.
And, it's true that SpaceX gives Obama a convenient "out" for the mess he's made of NASA. But, you can't tear down a surging private business just because it might help Obama down the road, especially because that private business is driving down costs in a way the HUGE government bureaucracy never could.
Musk is irritating, and strange and probably a full-bore leftists, but he's a genius with a strong record of success in private enterprise. We should give SpaceX the chance to succeed, or fail.
Personally I doubt these private companies will be private for very long. Every corporation that come in contact with Obama ends up under investigation and under control.
Join the dark side and support JPL.
Hutchison has not, is not and will never be a conservative. By all rights she should be off the scene because she ran against Perry in the Gov. primary. It’ll be happy day when she (and Cornin for that matter) are no longer in office.
I would like to see NASA continue with a rational program and goals as well, but disparaging SpaceX is just stupid.
Just like Rockwell, Boeing, General Dynamics or any number of private companies have been able to grow without outrageous government subsidies and development contracts through the years? /s
While there is a robust commercial demand for LEO capability, the lion's share of that demand still comes from the US government. It only makes sense from a tax-payer perspective that a responsible government would look to the private marketplace to pare down costs, something that has eluded NASA all these yeras. If you look at SpaceX ability to perform the last 6 years, no NASA program has come close to their record of achievement. They project that they'll be able to provide LEO at $1200 per kilo. That's simply amazing.
And more to the point, in just a few years of development, they have overtaken the Russians in lift efficiency. The fact that they ignited the rocket engines, shut them down, corrected a problem, and reinitiated the launch clock in just a few hours shows that their command and control exceeds that of NASA.
If SpaceX can deliver payloads more efficiently than NASA or the Russians, give them props.
Thats an effective Conservative argument, what the Republican Senator from Texas is using is a Left wing Liberal argument, that is more what I have a problem with here.
It goes along some of the lines I hear Conservatives Bashing Obama with, “Why isn’t he doing something”, NO That is not the tack we take, we do not want everybody relying Uncle Sugar Big Government coming in like superman to save us all, we want people to rely on THEMSELVES.
Conservative should stick to principled Conservative arguments.
If I were in Texas I would not vote for Hutchinson. She’s unreliable and too tied to the special interests within the Republican RINO party.
Having said that, I would never trust president 0 nor the Democrats in congress. Another poster commented that zero would either control the company or destroy it. True.
I wonder if this company is using solar panels or wind for propulsion? More, where will the current funds for NASA be going now that 0bama wants to shut it down? Lower taxes? I doubt it.
Hutchinson aside, nobody can trust one single thing the Democrats are doing or proposing to do. They could care less about space travel. Their only goal is money and power and this would be one more avenue to get it.
“It’s not like several of NASA’s early efforts didn’t blow up on the launch pad f’r chrissakes, and three early astronauts weren’t incinerated in their capsule.”
Certainly, so why go back and start at the beginning.
“Just like Rockwell, Boeing, General Dynamics or any number of private companies have been able to grow without outrageous government subsidies and development contracts through the years? /s”
Sure, so you’re going to pay a new company to reinvent what those companies had 30 years ago.
Aren’t these SpaceX guys big RAT donors? They’ll get some contracts and some money then take production off shore.
Which of these piglet welfare case aerospace giants has offered to provide this service at the same price as SpaceX, with a 30 year old system or a new one for that matter?
Which one do you work for?
Yes, I suspect that Musk is big Democrat donor, I know he is pretty left wing, but that does not excuse are side using left wing arguments against a private company.
I cant stand it when our side uses the lefts arguments, the left wins when the argument shifts into their territory whether they win the actual argument or not.
That should have been “our side” not “are side”, doh
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