An article by Bakersfield, California, TV station KGET noted that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) was among those in attendance last week at the groundbreaking of a new facility at the Mojave Air and Space Port where The Spaceship Company, the Virgin Galactic/Scaled Composites joint venture, will build WhiteKnightTwo aircraft and SpaceShipTwo suborbital spacecraft. Rohrabacher, a supporter of commercial spaceflight, had been invited by area congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and the article tantalizingly adds, “Rohrabacher is in line to become the chairman of the House Science Committee.” That may not be a direct line, though: the latest chatter is that Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), the current ranking member of the committee, still has the inside track to chair the committee come January.
Unfortunately, much of what is in the press is notoriously inaccurate and/or incomplete. The suggestion that Rohrabacher is a major contender appears to be yet another instance.
They just said, “in line.” They didn’t say that he was at the front of it.
Rohrabacher is a big advocate of commercial space and one of the few Republicans to support Obama’s FY11 NASA budget proposal. But I suspect the porkers will select one of their own.
Rohrabacher won’t get it because he is a gadfly and unacceptable to the Texas, Floraida, Alabama, and Utah delegations. He simply does not have the support.