Space Politics
Because sometimes the most important orbit is the Beltway…
Archive for January, 2008
January 31, 2008 at 7:14 am · Filed under Congress, NASA
Earlier this week the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied a protest by Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) regarding the NASA COTS recompete. RpK had protested NASA’s use of a funded Space Act Agreement (the same type that RpK had, and then lost, last year when it failed to meet milestones in the agreement) for the COTS recompete, arguing that a more conventional procurement should instead be used. The GAO found that since COTS is not intended to “principally provide for the acquisition of goods and services for the direct benefit and use of NASA,” the agency is not required to follow conventional procurement processes and can instead use Space Act Agreements.
The RpK protest had prevented NASA from continuing with the COTS award process: language inserted into the omnibus appropriations bill passed in December directed NASA not to select a new contractor until all challenges are decided.” The GAO’s denial of RpK’s protest has satisfied Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who added that provision, Space News reported yesterday. [subscription required] NASA is apparently free to make one or more awards as early as next week: one of the companies identified as finalists, PlanetSpace, said it expects a decision on February 8, a week from Friday.
January 31, 2008 at 6:45 am · Filed under Congress
Fifty years ago tonight the United States “officially” entered the Space Age with the successful launch of Explorer 1. In honor of the occasion, the House Science and Technology Committee announced yesterday that Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO), chair of the committee’s space subcommittee, introduced a resolution honoring the anniversary. The resolution, H.Con.Res. 287, cosponsored by several other members of the committee, including chairman Bart Gordon and ranking Republican Ralph Hall, “celebrates the achievement” of Explorer 1 and “looks forward to the next 50 years of United States achievements in the robotic and human exploration of space.”
As it turns out, it’s not the first time in recent months that Congress has recognized Explorer 1. In October the House approved H.Con.Res. 225, a resolution marking the 50th anniversary of “the dawn of the Space Age”, as heralded by both Sputnik and Explorer 1. And, last spring, both the House and the Senate approved H.Con.Res. 76, a resolution marking the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year, mentioning that the IGY “initiated the Space Age with the successful launch of the first artificial satellites, Sputnik by the former Soviet Union, and Explorer I by the United States”.
January 30, 2008 at 7:38 am · Filed under Campaign '08
This week’s issue of Space News has an article (an updated version of which is online) reviewing the efforts of space advocates to get questions about space into the Republican and Democratic debates held tonight and tomorrow night, respectively, by CNN, Politico, and the Los Angeles Times. These some background about the person who get this effort started, John Benac, and how it snowballed from there. A quick check this morning indicates that while the lists of questions are available, the front page of the debate section now redirects to the Politico.com home page, suggesting that voting may have now closed on debate questions.
I’m quoted towards the end of the article, crediting Mr. Benac for his advocacy but also sounding a little skeptical about how worthwhile this really is. (That’s because, well, I am a little skeptical, as you can probably tell from some previous posts on this.) As I noted in the previous post, the window on getting the candidates to speak out on space during the primary campaigns may be closing now that Florida has come and gone, and these debates may be among the last opportunities to get the candidates to sound off on space in a public forum until the general election campaign gets into gear (if then). Have space advocates used their resources wisely, and asked the right questions?
January 30, 2008 at 7:09 am · Filed under Campaign '08
So did those visits with Space Coast officials, statements about space policy, and endorsements from former NASA administrators have a significant effect on the results of the Republican primary in Florida yesterday? John McCain, the winner of the state, also won in Brevard County, the heart of the Space Coast. However, the results mirrored the state in general: McCain got 36% to Mitt Romney’s 31%, with Rudy Guiliani a distant third, just ahead of Mike Huckabee. McCain’s margin of victory over Romney in the statewide voting came effectively from big wins in three south Florida counties: Palm Beach, Broward, and (especially) Miami-Dade, none of which are known to be hotbeds of space interests. The statewide margin of victory for McCain was higher than the entire turnout in the Brevard Republican primary.
Undoubtedly some people in Florida, especially the Space Coast, based their decisions at least in part on what the candidates said, or did not say, on space issues, but it seems that did virtually nothing to affect the outcome of the election. One wonders if the window is now closing on the candidates to elucidate their space policy positions during the primary season: if it’s not an effective tool to win votes in Florida, it’s probably not going to be of much help in other states. Of course, we can still hope the candidates will be asked about the issue in the debates tonight and tomorrow night, although for tonight’s Republican debate, the most popular space question has dropped to ninth overall. (Assuming, of course, that those votes have any weight on the question selection process.)
January 29, 2008 at 7:21 pm · Filed under Campaign '08, Lobbying
Late this afternoon I got the following email:
Dear Space Advocate,
This week, the presidential candidates will be at the podium again discussing the significant topics of our nation, and YOU have a chance to ask about what’s important. As a supporter of space, this is your opportunity to get questions about Space Exploration at the forefront of the debate. Please check out the following link: http://capwiz.com/spaceadvocate/utr/1/OSTZIARNGS/ATHLIARRAS/1699563546, and vote for your favorite question, or submit one of your own. Questions about candidates’ views on Space Exploration have been in the top 10 for over a week. Let’s keep these on the radar. Be sure to check out the “most popular” area in both the Democratic and Republican section to see the specific question and submit your vote.
SpaceAdvocate.com is current undergoing maintenance at this time. However, you CAN make a difference by making your voice heard this week. Cast your vote or submit a question….TODAY!
Sincerely,
SpaceAdvocate.com and the Coalition for Space Exploration
I was about to rail on the folks at SpaceAdvocate.com for being a little late to the party: the effort to push space questions up in the rankings on the site had been going on for a couple of weeks, and the first of the two debates is tomorrow night. But the problem is much worse than that. If you go to the SpaceAdvocate.com web site, what you find is the “SpaceAdvocate Web Directory” (”Welcome to the new generation of link building. Do your website a big favor!”) The domain is registered to someone in Ankara, Turkey, who is selling links on the home page. It would seem that the Coalition for Space Exploration, which established SpaceAdvocate.com in late 2006, forgot to renew or otherwise lost control of the domain, and it was snatched up by someone else. (I guess that’s what they mean when they say that “SpaceAdvocate.com is current [sic] undergoing maintenance at this time.” Good luck with that.)
January 29, 2008 at 5:25 am · Filed under Campaign '08
The Miami Herald reports that, on the eve of today’s key Republican primary, presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani expressed his support for space exploration during a campaign stop Monday night at Florida International University. The US, Giuliani said, would “be the first [country to land] on Mars,” the newspaper quoted Giuliani as saying, without providing any additional details. According to the article, the comment “drew mixed reactions” from the crowd, but so apparently did one where Giuliani talked about “a Cuba without Castro”. Tough crowd.
One audience that has been supportive of Giuliani’s recent space policy comments is The Mars Society, which issued a press release yesterday (not yet on its web site) about those comments, as well as John McCain’s space policy statement released Sunday. “We are extremely pleased to see such a can-do attitude being taken towards space exploration by Senator McCain and Mayor Giuliani,” said Mars Society Political Director Chris Carberry. “Giuliani’s editorial echoes many of the points that we have been making for years, and McCain’s statement demonstrates his understanding of the vital role that human and robotic space exploration play in making this nation great.”
January 28, 2008 at 1:12 pm · Filed under Campaign '08
The John McCain campaign announced today that the Republican presidential candidate has been endorsed by former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe. O’Keefe: “John’s commitment to our national security and to exploration and discovery, coupled with his passion to improve our nation’s math and science education system to assure American competitiveness, should lead all Americans to conclude that he is the right person to lead our country.” McCain’s response: “Sean has been a friend and colleague for many years and I appreciate his support. His leadership during a challenging time in the rich NASA history helped put our nation’s quest for exploration on track.”
The press release notes that O’Keefe is currently chancellor of LSU, and throws in a disclaimer that O’Keefe’s endorsement does not constitute an endorsement by the university. The release doesn’t note, though, that O’Keefe announced his plans to resign as LSU chancellor earlier this month.
(Tangential note: I first found this press release on a newswire service called Standard Newswire, whose logo captured my attention: a stylized version of what is clearly Skylab, along with the words “Connect with the World”. What a space station that deorbited nearly 30 years ago has to do with connecting with the world beats me.)
January 27, 2008 at 9:29 pm · Filed under Campaign '08
A reader tipped me off to this new space policy statement from the McCain campaign:
John McCain have been a strong supporter of NASA and the space program. He is proud to have sponsored legislation authorizing funding consistent with the President’s vision for the space program, which includes a return of astronauts to the Moon in preparation for a manned mission to Mars. He believes support for a continued US presence in space is of major importance to America’s future innovation and security. He has also been a staunch advocate for ensuring that NASA funding is accompanied by proper management and oversight to ensure that the taxpayers receive the maximum return on their investment. John McCain believes curiosity and a drive to explore have always been quintessential American traits. This has been most evident in the space program, for which he will continue his strong support.
The statement refers to authorizing legislation McCain introduced: this was S. 2541, introduced in June 2004 by McCain with three Republican co-sponsors: George Allen of Virginia, Sam Brownback of Kansas, and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas. At that time McCain was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of NASA, while Brownback was chairman of the committee’s space subcommittee. Note that this is not the same version as the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, which was passed in the 109th Congress; McCain was not a sponsor of the 2005 version (S. 1281), most likely because by then he was no longer chairman of the commerce committee. The two versions, though, do share a number of key provisions.
January 27, 2008 at 12:54 pm · Filed under Campaign '08
The most popular debate question suggested for this week’s debates being organized by Politico, CNN, and the Los Angeles Times is no longer related to space policy, according to a check midday Sunday. For the Democratic debate January 31, the top-ranked most popular question is related to Gulf Coast hurricane relief, although space questions still dominate the overall list (13 of the top 15). For the Republican debate January 30, the top-ranked space policy question is now only the fourth most popular, after questions about the war on terrorism, Gulf Coast hurricane relief (the same as the top-ranked Democratic debate question), and taxes. For the Republicans, only 3 of the top 10, and 5 of the top 15, most popular questions are about space.
I suspect that these standings will lead some to call for a final round of voting to push space questions up in the standings. (The site doesn’t mention when the deadline for voting is.) However, the voting process remains something of a black box, with no clues about just how many votes the most popular questions have received, nor any statement about how—or even whether—the voting process will factor into the selection of questions for the debates. It’s easy for someone to go in, spend a few seconds clicking on the vote buttons for some questions, and think they’ve done their good space advocacy deed for the day. In the long run, that time might be better spent firing off an email (or fax or letter) to their favorite candidate(s) asking them directly some of the same questions being voted on at the Politico site.
January 26, 2008 at 9:20 am · Filed under Congress
With Congressman Dave Weldon’s announcement yesterday that he will not run for reelection in 2008, people in Florida’s Space Coast region are pondering what impact that will have on the space program and their livelihoods. Not surprisingly, people are worried about the loss of Weldon’s seniority and influence in Washington (influence that is somewhat diminished now that Republicans are in the minority in Congress), and whether Florida will thus somehow lose out to other NASA centers in the scramble for funding.
With less than a year to go in Congress, one wonders how strongly he’ll push for his legislation to keep the shuttle flying after 2010 or secure a similar commitment in other legislation. Will he be empowered by working against the clock, or be rendered a lame duck?
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