Virginia is for aerospace lovers

The Hampton Roads Daily Press reports that a “slew” of NASA officials went to the Virginia state capital yesterday to lobby the state to better support the aerospace industry in the state. The visitors, who included the directors of NASA Langley and NASA Wallops, didn’t make requests for specific programs in the state, but said that the state needed to do more in areas like education, economic development, and improving broadband Internet access throughout the state. (Noting the presence of the NASA officials, the article noted that “Virginia is the only state with two NASA sites”: technically true if you count California’s JPL, run by Caltech under contract with NASA, as a NASA site, giving the Golden State three.) While this visit was not linked to any specific legislation, the state legislature is considering several bills related to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) located at Wallops.