In the end it won’t matter, someone’s administration -republican or democrat- will have a space-related crisis on their hands. When we find ourselves outmaneuvered, first by the long-term policy of others and later by technological and logistical capability, we might come to view today’s space priorities in the same light as we now view our intelligence priorities of four years ago.

Where is Congress?

It doesn’t matter what a politian intend but rather what we enforce with our vote and voice. Currently O’Keefe is a chapion for the vision but his time may be limited.

Brave heart, the game is afoot!

http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_awst_story.jsp?id=news/07264wna.xml

What is worse for the space exploration supporter? The president who gives one speech which causes NASA to plan for an unfunded program? Or the candidate who makes no plans when there is no funding? I am afraid that the purpose of Bush’s speech was only to gather support from aerospace companies and space exploration supporters and nothing more. I am one of the chumps who sent in a white paper on the CEV.
http://kahuna.sdsu.edu/~sharring/Pistonless_pump_for_CEV.pdf
For a good spoof of his January speech see
http://www.whitehouse.org/news/2004/011504.asp
The funny thing about the spoof is how accurate they were.

Steve

That is why we need to work on recruitment and training of a new cadre of younger members of the space community who know better than to repeat the mistakes the Baby Boomers and Generation X made regarding space: i.e.: Doing what doesn’t work over and over and over again, not developing real skills useful in the real world, instead of expecting you to get training, skills, knowledge, a formal education, and then casting you loose to sink or swim out in the real world, with no support from your mentors and fellow spacers. The space community falls down flat on supporting each other like the Federalist Society did for lawyers who believed in statist advancement regarding the Justice Department.

No one skill, activity, action, or anything else by itself will get us into space; rather, a combination of different actions in different realms, like complementary currencies, multiyear NASA funding, reforming NASA, alt.space company support, training and promoting cadre, mentoring the younger generation to be successful activists, bypassing conventional lying media who have never told the truth about space, beconing slick, savvy, worldly salesmen for the idea of a spacefaring civilization in our lifetimes, or at least the lifetimes of our children and our younger charges, and just plain telling the common folk space settlement is possible, won’t bust the bank, and is something you can invest in and be a part of right now, is part of how we will get to space in a major way, not voting for the “right party”, hoping they give us handouts in our cup for space.

Those numbers are meaningless. Most folks’ support for space is a mile wide and an inch deep. They’re not pro-space enough for it to be a voting issue. Neither Kerry or Bush will win (or lose) an election on the issue.

If Kerry is elected, there are plenty of people in Houston and Florida who will persuade Kerry that he should reverse the evil Bush plan to phase out the Shuttle, and resurrect Clinton’s wonderful Internationally cooperative space station program, and not waste money on sending people beyond earth orbit. I think that it will appeal to him. I hope that my prediction isn’t tested, though.