HOUSTON – With the Johnson Space Center poised to lose thousands of NASA jobs, ‘Space City, U.S.A.’ may no longer have the means to live up to its name.
On Friday morning, U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas accused President Barack Obama of political retaliation.
“The president seems to be targeting states that didn’t support him politically, not a scientific judgment, not a judgment based on human exceptionalism when it comes to space flight, but a political judgment based on what may serve his best interest in 2012,” said Cornyn.
With the space shuttle program set for retirement and the President slamming the door on development of the Constellation rocket, Houston-area lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are scrambling to reason with the Obama administration and preserve thousands of jobs.
“Once we let that human capitol, that brain trust break up, it will take decades to re-assemble it,” warned Houston Mayor Annise Parker.
“I don’t want to walk away from what we have invested here,” said U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of the billions of dollars spent on developing next generation rockets.
Interwoven with the diplomatic outreach was a commitment to counterattack the President’s Johnson Space Center cuts with legislative action.
“I can’t vote for that budget even if it is a democratic budget,” said Houston-area Congressman Gene Green, a democrat.
“The president has a word on this, but he is not the final word. The United States Congress is the final word,” insisted Republican Congressman Pete Olson, who invited President Obama to visit the Johnson Space Center, which is located in his district.
Houston-area Congressman John Culberson, also a Republican, was more combative.
“The President hasn’t just canceled the mission to the moon.The President has canceled the manned space program, which is unacceptable and will not happen.”
Again, I must re-iterate with the American people at large, what is really going on here. I was NOT, in the least, impressed with the President’s (April 15th Florida) speech! This Presidential move to destroy Constellation is the most damaging-to-the-long-run decisions ever made, with regard to NASA & the U.S. space program—if it is allowed to stand. Congress could & should collectively veto this White House directive. The President basically sold out to the “Anywhere-but-the-Moon” lobby. There is a misguided segment of the space interest community who are dead-set against any further manned exploration of the Moon, and instead want to hijack America’s quest for deep space into excluding it as a destination. They would have us ignore the Moon entirely, in favor of much hugely difficult missions to visit asteroids. This is pure bunk & illusion!! These people hated the Moon as a destination so much, and this is the sheer reason why they wanted Constellation killed. The ironies are many: Constellation was ALREADY slated to give us a HEAVY-LIFT launch vehicle: the Aries 5 rocket. (The Aries 1 was required as a safety measure, agreed after the Columbia Disaster, to split the launch of the crew from that of the massive cargo, so as to make a safer earth-orbit rendezvous flight plan. So, contrary to what some misinformed people are saying, such as Buzz Aldrin, this second, smaller rocket was also needed.) The Orion spacecraft, in its full lunar-mission capable form, would still have been more than adequate for LEO station servicing, if that was needed. This multiple-job work-horse, has the potential of becoming the American Soyuz craft, if allowed to develop fully. The Aries 5 rocket would have clear interplanetary transport capabilities, for base modules & landing craft, on the Moon as well as other worlds. Including planetoids in far-deep space, eventually. But Constellation’s prime first mission was, and still should be, the Moon, because it is so much easier to reach than other planets are. I say that we all, regardless of our penchants for destinations, should put our full support towards getting Constellation revived & restarted. An immense range of things will become possible, with this brave & daring venture. To the Moon first! Before & ahead of any asteroids.