UPDATE: After the chips have all fallen, Romney did not come as strong as Rudy Giuliani, at least note at first. He says that he needs to "study" the issue more.
From the Orlando Sentinnel:
Fresh of the press, Romney's statements:
I support the NASA program, the president's vision program, which consists of a manned space mission back to the moon, as well as an ongoing mission to Mars, and with that happy to take any questions you may have.
That sounds to me like he is dodging the commitment to send men to mars.
the key thing is to maintain the technology and the personnel that has the proprietary technology to manage a mission such as the new vision program. And so there's gonna have to be an effort to either narrow the gap or to maintain technology or to provide opportunities for the key engineers and personnel so that we don't lose the capacity to carry the program forward
I'm not prepared to make commitments without having studied things, having grown up in a sector where you study things thoroughly before you make a decision.
Tell him that he needs to start studying things right about now.
we can't afford to lose people who have proprietary technology if we're going to do a successful space program.
A tepid pledge of support, I feel. Our work is not done on Romney.
3 comments:
Senator John McCain has always been a supporter of space exploration and until recently had influence on NASA as chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee. Although he did show some skepticism following President Bush’s announcement in January 2004, by August he stated, “I think it is not only visionary, but doable.” (McCarthy, John. “McCain Speech Packs in Crowd” Florida Today, August 5, 2004). This would be consistent with the reaction that members of The Mars Society received when they approached him during the 2000 presidential campaign: he seemed enthusiastic about the concept of humans to Mars.
I don't know where you get your information but Senator mcCain has always been a supporter of space exploration. you should know this if you are such a proponent for space exploration this article is in The Space Review.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/408/1
"So far only Arizona Senator John McCain, citing scheduling problems, has outright turned them down."
See this at
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_space_thewritestuff/2008/01/the-political-s.html
Call Senator McCain's office! The number is on the screen next to you! ask his office what they are doing regarding this!
I agree that McCain is generally a supporter of space, but he could be a bigger supporter, and he will be, if we tell him that we support it as well.
The reason Romney hasn't 100% committed to the mission is simply because he needs more data. He, along with most other high level execs (I think you know one very well), needs thorough and convincing data in order to invest large sums of money towards a particular endeavor. But I believe that once the data, costs and benefits are laid out in front of him, he'll make the best decision as to what is right for this country. I believe he is sincere, and in no way would preemptively dismiss space programs as trivial. It really all comes down to the costs/benefits.
Believe you me, if anyone is fit to make the case for further space exploration, I know someone with the initials of JWB that would make an excellent promoter.
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