NASA, States

Briefs: Bolden talks, Homans walks

NASA administrator Charles Bolden spoke this week at the AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Orlando (the first speech by the administrator whose prepared text was posted on the NASA web site since a statement about the rescue of Chilean miners in mid-October). Much of Bolden’s speech was looking back at the shuttle program, but he did devote some comments to the agency’s future, noting that NASA is ready “to vigorously launch the exciting new direction we’ve been given through a strongly bi-partisan Authorization Act.” There’s nothing groundbreaking in his comments, although it may be worth nothing that he devotes a couple of paragraphs to commercial crew and cargo transportation development, and one to the additional shuttle mission authorized in last year’s act, but has only a single sentence about the Space Launch System, the heavy-lift launcher also authorized in the act.

In New Mexico, a change in administrations has cost Spaceport America executive director Rick Homans his job. Homans announced his resignation Wednesday, saying that new governor Susana Martinez (R)—who took office on New Year’s Day—had forced him to either resign or be fired. Homans had expressed an interest in staying on at least through the completion of the commercial spaceport’s construction later this year. Homans had served in several roles for former governor Bill Richardson, including as the state’s secretary of economic development when plans for the spaceport were announced a little over five years ago. The Martinez administration plans to form a search committee to find a replacement for Homans. In comments announcing his resignation, Homans said he’s concerned that the spaceport project could “slow down or fall apart pretty quickly” without a clear show of support for the effort by Gov. Martinez.

Martinez had previously indicated she had formed a “spaceport review team” to study the project, including its contract with anchor tenant Virgin Galactic; that team has received input from, among others, former astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Sid Gutierrez. Thursday, the Martinez administration announced that Schmitt has been nominated to be the state’s secretary of energy, minerals, and natural resources.

44 comments to Briefs: Bolden talks, Homans walks

  • Robert G. Oler

    This is really to bad and is shaping up to be just more GOP BS…The spaceport was on track to be a mecca of private space ops, including recoveries of Dragon’s there.

    If the incoming GOP gov…who was cold to the spaceport in her campaign screws that…she will have demonstrated the stupidity that is now sweeping the Grand OLD Party.

    Robert G. Oler

  • Homans said he’s concerned that the spaceport project could “slow down or fall apart pretty quickly” without a clear show of support for the effort by Gov. Martinez.

    Plenty of room at Cape Canaveral. C’mon down.

    In related news, STS-133 has been delayed again to at least February 27 due to the external tank problem. One has to wonder how much longer this will go on before they acknowledge they got a bad tank and just cancel the mission or swap it for the STS-134 tank.

  • Byeman

    “mecca of private space ops”

    Not really, it was dead end branch.

  • Byeman

    Forgot to add, nuch like the Navaho vehicle.

  • Ferris Valyn

    Robert – I’ve heard nothing about Dragon doing land recovery at spaceport America.

    I’ve heard other providers using it, but not SpaceX

  • If the incoming GOP gov…who was cold to the spaceport in her campaign screws that…

    I dunno Oler, what would she gain by slowing, or eventually shutting down Spaceport America? New Mexico doesn’t have NASA centers there and as far as I know her nomination of Schmitt might have some connection, but what that is exactly is up to conjecture.

    I’m sure more knowledgeable minds than mine will have more nuanced opinions than myself on this matter.

  • amightywind

    Good for Governor Martinez! The last thing she needs is to patronize the big government dreams of democrat dead enders. From spaceports to bike paths to high speed rail, if more Governors would challenge these publicly funded boondoggles the fiscal situation would be much improved. Burt Rutan has been doing just fine without government subsidies and will continue to do so.

  • dad2059 wrote:

    I dunno Oler, what would she gain by slowing, or eventually shutting down Spaceport America? New Mexico doesn’t have NASA centers there and as far as I know her nomination of Schmitt might have some connection, but what that is exactly is up to conjecture.

    Um, the NASA White Sands Space Harbor is nearby.

  • amightywind

    In related news, STS-133 has been delayed again to at least February 27 due to the external tank problem.

    You are off topic and kicking a dead horse. Much as I will miss the shuttle, these last flights are utterly inconsequential. I hope the engineers take their time and get the vehicle right. It’s not like they are in a hurry to get to the next program anymore.

  • Major Tom

    “Burt Rutan has been doing just fine without government subsidies and will continue to do so.”

    Rutan is retiring in three months.

    http://www.scaled.com/images/uploads/news/Burt_Rutan_Announces_Retirement_Plans_03Nov10.pdf

    FWIW…

  • Bennett

    I think Sir Branson should schedule a meeting with the new Gov and flash those pearly whites in her direction…

  • Um, the NASA White Sands Space Harbor is nearby.

    Okay, my ignorance showed on that one lol ;).

    But the question remains, “What good would it do Gov. Martinez to close down Spaceport America?”

    Will Schmitt tear it down and dig for oil?

    With STS ending, does she expect more pork for White Sands somehow from a more friendly Congress?

    I don’t see the gain for NM here if Spaceport America goes away.

  • Major Tom

    “Good for Governor Martinez! The last thing she needs is to patronize the big government dreams of… spaceports… Burt Rutan has been doing just fine without government subsidies and will continue to do so.”

    You do realize that Rutan’s SS2 design and successor to his SS1 vehicle would have nowhere to fly operationally without SpacePort America, right?

    C’mon, let’s think before we post.

  • dad2059 wrote:

    I don’t see the gain for NM here if Spaceport America goes away.

    Probably just political demagoguery appealing to the Tea Party types. A generous contribution to help retire Ms. Martinez’s campaign debts will make her go away.

    Still, if they want to play that game, I hope the Space Coast steps up to lure away Virgin Galactic. Jeff’s report prompted my curiosity as to why they chose New Mexico instead of Cape Canaveral. I just posted a blog about it; apparently it boils down to New Mexico being aggressive in chasing them while Florida was not.

    Part of Martinez’s demagoguery has to do with the public funds used to build the spaceport. Apparently she’s clueless that nearly all airports in the United States are publicly owned and therefore funded by public money. Of course, that is eventually paid back by gate fees and ticket charges. But the construction bonds are secured by the public treasury. I don’t know why she would think a spaceport should be any different.

  • Martijn Meijering

    Burt Rutan has been doing just fine without government subsidies and will continue to do so.

    I can’t escape the impression that your enthusiasm for VG is based on your private assessment that they are much further away from putting a person into orbit than SpaceX or Orbital…

  • Robert G. Oler

    Stephen C. Smith wrote @ January 7th, 2011 at 8:01 am

    In related news, STS-133 has been delayed again to at least February 27 due to the external tank problem. One has to wonder how much longer this will go on before they acknowledge they got a bad tank and just cancel the mission or swap it for the STS-134 tank”……

    ………………………………………………………………………

    yeah thats going to be interesting to watch. I WOULD NOT ride on ST 133’s tank. They are starting to talk about the appearance of the metal being “different”, cracks without any ascent loads whatsoever…and no one exactly knows why…

    you cant put doublers on bad metal…and then we get into the entire issue of foam “Liberation”.

    Worse there is no sense of economics here.

    Every month that goes on cost 200 or so million dollars…what they are carrying up could be fitted to an EELV or a Falcon 9 or something even if it took a “service module” to get it there…for the dollars they are going to waste on this one.

    and if the thing goes “bang” they have no one to blame but themselves…its a little annoying. Got to wonder what Shannon’s excuse would be on this one.

    Robert G. Oler

  • Stephen C. Smith wrote @ January 7th, 2011 at 10:19 am

    After reading your blog post Stephen, I would have to agree with your Tea Party demagoguery theory, none other seems to make sense.

    But like establishment politicians of any stripe, sufficient donations toward retiring campaign debts might grease the wheels some.

    Maybe Mr. Branson will dig out a couple of tea cans out of his back yard to handle the problem? lol ;D

  • mr. mark

    “Good for Governor Martinez! The last thing she needs is to patronize the big government dreams of democrat dead enders. From spaceports to bike paths to high speed rail, if more Governors would challenge these publicly funded boondoggles the fiscal situation would be much improved. Burt Rutan has been doing just fine without government subsidies and will continue to do so”.

    amightywind – that by far is the most craziest statement i have ever read here on this board and i’ve read some crazy things here. Everytime you speak I get a belly laugh. And as we argue Spacex and Orbital sciences move forward, Spacex most likely delivering cargo on their next flight to the ISS combining COTS 2&3. The future is here and your hot air won’t stop it. Sometimes you really piss me off LOL.

  • Robert G. Oler

    Stephen C. Smith wrote @ January 7th, 2011 at 8:01 am

    btw dont know if I told you …very nice writeup on Vanguard…I keep a listening watch out for it…but so far no joy but I have seen it with the 12 inch tracking telescope.

    A ham group I am a part of is trying to put together a commemorative Vanguard…amazing what you can do now with 5 lbs or so…and am working with a launch provider for a 12 or so launch…we want to ride on one of their GTO launches to get a little more lifetime…latest delivery was a company let us have some space qualified “tether” so we can stay attached to the second stage…

    anyway…great write up let us know when you do the rest…I linked it on my facebook

    Robert G. Oler

  • Mark R. Whittington

    I think that with a change of administrations a second look at the New Mexico space port was inevitable. However I don’t see it being scrapped with an anchor tenent already lined up.

    I also find that reaction of the Dems to Dr. Schmitt’s appointment hysterical beyond belief.

  • After reading your blog post Stephen, I would have to agree with your Tea Party demagoguery theory, none other seems to make sense.

    What makes sense to me is exactly what she said — that she wants to safeguard the taxpayers’ money, and ensure that it’s being well spent on the spaceport. The Richardson machine was notoriously corrupt, and Homans was part of it.

  • common sense

    @amightywind wrote @ January 7th, 2011 at 8:55 am

    “Good for Governor Martinez! The last thing she needs is to patronize the big government dreams of democrat dead enders. From spaceports to bike paths to high speed rail, if more Governors would challenge these publicly funded boondoggles the fiscal situation would be much improved. Burt Rutan has been doing just fine without government subsidies and will continue to do so.”

    Ah, spacepolitics would not be the same without amightywind. The ability to make more and more nonsensical statements is unparalleled. Oh wait, we also have DCSCA.

    Burt Rutan “never” received government “subsidies”? Do you mean that Scaled never had a contract with the government? That if Scaled did then they never used the technology developed on those contracts to build WK and SSs? You MUST have access to their books I assume. Pretty awesome.

    Oh well…

  • amightywind

    Apparently she’s clueless that nearly all airports in the United States are publicly owned and therefore funded by public money

    Governor Martinez logically does not equate rocket rides for billionaires with air travel for the masses, and thus does not fritter away tax dollars on a lark.

  • Rand Simberg wrote @ January 7th, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    All politics is demagoguery Rand, we’ll see how Gov. Martinez has handled NM’s taxpayers money in a couple of years.

  • amightywind wrote @ January 7th, 2011 at 12:52 pm

    LOL, speaking of demagoguery…

  • amightywind

    I can’t escape the impression that your enthusiasm for VG is based on your private assessment that they are much further away from putting a person into orbit than SpaceX or Orbital…

    I admire Rutan and SC because they had a better engineering design, and because they succeeded without pulling political levers. We will never again see such a feat of private aviation.

  • Curious. What do launch folks do between launches?

  • Vladislaw

    At $200,000 per flight that drops to $100,000 after 300 your claim that it is only for billionaires is rather silly.

  • All politics is demagoguery Rand

    That’s a gross exaggeration. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

    we’ll see how Gov. Martinez has handled NM’s taxpayers money in a couple of years.

    We will indeed.

  • Robert G. Oler wrote:

    anyway…great write up let us know when you do the rest…I linked it on my facebook

    Part II has been online for a few days, photos of what it looks like today:

    http://spaceksc.blogspot.com/2011/01/vanguard-revisited-part-ii.html

    You might also enjoy this serendipity article about Pad 34:

    http://spaceksc.blogspot.com/2011/01/fifty-years-ago.html

    And now we return you to Space-SPAN …

  • your claim that it is only for billionaires is rather silly.

    In what way does that distinguish it from any other claim by “abreakingwind”?

  • Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

    LOL, yes that’s true.

    Okay, let’s say that Gov. Martinez finds that it’s unacceptable for the Spaceport to receive public funds, or cuts funding significantly before the anchor tenants show enough profit to offset the increased costs due to the financial shortfall, would trying to find more tenants be an option?

    Someone suggested on an earlier thread that a “zero tax” option like what happened with early Web businesses could help draw in these small aerospace companies and get a foot-hold.

    Perhaps Gov. Martinez would go for something like that.

  • Ferris Valyn

    your claim that it is only for billionaires is rather silly.

    In what way does that distinguish it from any other claim by “abreakingwind”?

    Sometimes s/he offers up idoicy and stupidity rather than silly

  • Okay, let’s say that Gov. Martinez finds that it’s unacceptable for the Spaceport to receive public funds, or cuts funding significantly before the anchor tenants show enough profit to offset the increased costs due to the financial shortfall, would trying to find more tenants be an option?

    I’ve seen no evidence yet that she finds it unacceptable for it to receive public funds. It certainly makes sense that she’d like to reduce the amount if it can be done without compromising its intent, at least eventually. I would simply read this as a desire to do more oversight on a project that was run by Richardson’s Santa Fe mafia.

  • DocM

    Gov. Martinez isn’t picking on SSA, but is doing a general belt-tightening across all state agencies. That’s what she ran on and why she won in November. Same goes here in Michigan where Gov. Snyder is prepping to dismantle the financial & bureaucratic disaster left by Jennifer Granholm.

  • amightywind

    I’ve seen no evidence yet that she finds it unacceptable for it to receive public funds.

    You haven’t been looking hard.

    http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/2011/01/spaceport-needs-martinez%E2%80%99s-support-homans-says/

    FTA: Given our budget realities, additional large investments would be a misguided use of our taxpayer funds. In addition, higher local taxes have been implemented on surrounding counties to help fund the construction of the project. Along with our tax increases levied by the state government, we are placing an undue burden on local residents during these very difficult economic times

    Says it all. This reminds me of the ‘tunnel to nowhere’ just cancelled by Chris Christie. “It’s dead, Jim.”

  • DocM

    PS: this belt tightening will worsen because instead of NM having a deficit of $260M as claimed by Gov. Richardson, a state report came out after the election showing the books had been fudged. The real NM defict is $462M.

    Lucky fir them; Gov. Granholm left Michigan with a $1.8B deficit :-P

  • Nice quote out of context, “abreakingwind.” And even then, there is nothing in that indicating that it’s “unacceptable for it to receive public finds.” Just more reading miscomprehension and illogic from the usual suspect.

  • Robert G. Oler

    Stephen C. Smith wrote @ January 7th, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    you do very nice work and I urge you to continue…please let me know when there are updates (Post them on the facebook page maybe?) I am in Africa and while I am returning soon the last couple of days have been pretty hectic…

    did some good amateur radio satellite stuff from a few rare countries though (grin)

    Vanguard to me anyway has always gotten a bum wrap. The irony of politics is that the folks who blew Sputnik out of proportion are the folks whoh eventually morphed into the neo cons…(OK Jack Kennedy took advantage of it in the 60 campaign)…but the sad thing is that reason did not prevail and the “military aspects” of spaceflight,, meaning the nutty “goal” things took over.

    At one point when the Soviets sent Lunik around the Moon and got pictures of the lunar farside there were some sharp questions to Ike about it and his response to paraphrase (but its close) “I am interested in pictures of the other side of the Moon, but am not interested in unbalancing the budget or raising taxes to do it.”…

    But instead we just started doing goofy things…which eventually wound us up in the lunar program which still haunts us today.

    I’ve built a functioning model 1 to 1 scale of Vanguard 1…and a scale model of the rocket…

    It would have been an interesting progression…but like the politics after 9/11 people just stopped being reasonable or even thoughtful and the Whittingtons of the world just took off…

    Robert G. Oler

  • Robert G. Oler wrote:

    please let me know when there are updates (Post them on the facebook page maybe?)

    I don’t use the Facebook page for anything other than the occasional receipt of a message. There’s a Followers link on the blog page; you might try that for when a new article is posted. Thanks again for the compliments.

  • DCSCA

    It should warm the hearts of Americans who advocate conservative principles, voted GOP, and support the nation’s space-faring activities as they gaze into the 90 years ahead that is our 21st Century, that the Republican chair of the Science-Space & Technology was alive ( 4 yrs. old) when Lindbergh flew to Paris in 1927.

  • Robert G. Oler

    It is starting to become clear that there are some serious “process errors” being committed in shuttle operations. If you read some of the stuff I am getting off line…or just go to NASAspaceflight.com and read the stories on the ET…

    it is pretty clear that some substandard material got into ET manufactoring…and made it past process control.

    Got to wonder how this happened? And what else has slipped by.

    Its time to just end the thing…save the money by shutting the whole operation down and figuring out how to launch the rest of EELV’s fire the idiots who have let this happen and move on.

    Robert G. Oler

  • Daniel W. Roberts

    We should end the shuttle program and press ahead on figuring out how to launch the rest of the planned flights cargo on expendable rockets. We should also confine ourselves to human flights to low Earth orbit since we have neither the political will or the money to go any place else.

  • Robert G. Oler

    Daniel W. Roberts wrote @ January 10th, 2011 at 9:53 am

    We should end the shuttle program and press ahead on figuring out how to launch the rest of the planned flights cargo on expendable rockets…..

    yeap it is pretty clear that the shuttle program is just stalled…I dont know how the bad metal got into the tank…but all that says is that the entire system at NASA is pretty weak.

    We need to get this thing shut down before someone else gets killed.

    Robert G. Oler

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