Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), chairman of the space subcommittee of the House Science Committee, has announced his public support for NASA’s decision to proceed with the launch of the space shuttle, speaking out in opposition to a Los Angeles Times editorial Thursday which argued that NASA should ground the shuttle:
Human space flight is an inherently risky business. Administrator Griffin, the crew of Discovery, and the men and women of NASA understand that fact. If Discovery’s test flight fails to safely complete its mission, the Shuttle era will be over. If it succeeds, America’s manned space program will be able to conduct a rational transition to the next generation space vehicle. Let’s give NASA the chance to succeed.
Calvert acknowledged that some NASA officials recommended against proceeding with the launch, but said that “Unlike with Columbia’s mission, the process was transparent and consultative throughout.” (Some in the media might challenge the “transparent” part of that assessment, given NASA’s decision to reject a FOIA request for Flight Readiness Review documents.)
The Honorable Ken Calvert has said NASA is entering its “Second Space Age”.
Apparently Californians cannot count to “three” with their finger. Do they count illegal aliens as citizens, or not?
First there was the “Right Stuff Era”, in which the test pilots had the proper protocol. The Apollo era spending spike proved the Era was not less filling, yet tasted great politically.
Beginning STS-5 there is the current “Right Stuff Irrational Exuberance era”, a mixer era of the right stuff and wanting to do lots of stuff. An era where the test pilots are still adventurous jocks, yet sitting next to them may be a school teacher, lawmaker, or dedicated scientist. (the lawmaker of course wants to be “popular” with everyone on-board). An era in which failure is still thought to not be a plausible outcome, as MOD prints on their shirts.
The third era yet to come is Ken Calvert’s Second “Era” (not to be confused with ERA, or earned run average). Before Ken Calvert’s Corked-Bat “Apollo on Steroids” Enhanced Baseball era can begin (Congress likes to talk about baseball while the deficit soars beyond the stadium)- before it begins the Right Stuff Irrational Exuberance era must come to an end.
The Honorable Congressman cannot count to three upon his fingers. Little wonder the deficit is so enormous. Maybe he is missing a finger, or maybe someone stole a base. For a big guy he has certainly come up one short in this case.