The House Science, Space and Technology Committee announced late Tuesday the list of Republican members who will serve on the committee. The list features seven freshman members, including Reps. Sandy Adams (R-FL), whose district includes KSC; Scott Rigell (R-VA), whose district includes the Wallops Flight Facility and is immediately adjacent to NASA Langley; Steven Palazzo (R-MS), whose district includes NASA Stennis; and Mo Brooks (R-AL), whose district includes NASA Marshall. (In addition, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) represents the district that includes Maryland’s Eastern Shore, just north of Wallops.) In Adams’s case, at least, the assignment is a consolation prize: in November she said she was seeking a post on the appropriations committee but would consider the science committee if that fell through.
A number of veteran Republicans are also returning to the committee, including Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). One notable omission, though, is Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX), whose district includes JSC. Olson had been the ranking member of the space subcommittee in the last Congress and thus would have been in line to chair the committee this Congress with the Republicans in the majority.
Wow…wonder why Pete bailed…will have to ask him when I get home! Robert G. Oler
I find Rohrbacher’s presence irritating, as he might be the last friend Elon Musk has in congress. Aside from him the forces backing a more traditional NASA are strong.
Oh swell, Sandy Adams is fairly clueless when it comes to space issues. Florida Today called her lack of knowledge about NASA “appalling.” She recently published an opinion article in the Daytona Beach News-Journal in which she implied NASA flies astronauts on Chinese rockets. She also wrote that NASA is a “national security issue” even though by law all military space issues are the purview of the Defense Department.
House Science is already pretty Texas-heavy. Pete Olsen got a plum slot on E&C, which I’m sure he understands is a better for congressional career-building than staying on Science. Protection of JSC doesn’t figure strongly in his popularity in what is a strongly Republican district, and one that is highly dependent for jobs on offshore drilling and the oil industry. One might wonder who would take the lead on the space subcommittee, though.
“I find Rohrbacher’s presence irritating, as he might be the last friend Elon Musk has in congress.”
Based on campaign contributions, Musk has plenty of “friends” in Congress:
http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/elon-musk.asp?cycle=10
SpaceX probably has more.
“Aside from him the forces backing a more traditional NASA are strong.”
If the “forces backing” a “traditional NASA” were strong, then they would have defeated the 2010 NASA Authorizatoin Bill that terminated Ares I, funded commercial crew, accelerated HLV, and invested in exploration technology. Instead, the bill passed the House by a margin of nearly 3-1.
“Oh swell, Sandy Adams is fairly clueless when it comes to space issues.”
Adams is arguably clueless about how Congress works, too, if she really thought she’d get a seat on the appropriations committee as a freshman.
A (draft) list I saw a couple weeks ago included Rep. Dan Webster (R-FL) on this committee. With five “vacancies” identified, perhaps Webster and/or Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) will still join. Then maybe Wasserman-Shultz for the other team?
This is precisely how NASA got where it has been since Apollo. Lots of supporters of spending lots of money (but only on NASA centers and captive contractors) on the authorization committee. No such support on the appropriations committee. Authorizers prevent NASA from changing how business is done. Appropriators refuse to write Apollo level checks. Paralysis results. Eventually a commission is called together, which says, in essence, “change how you do business or spend more money”. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
So, what did Elon donate to the future Chairman of the House Science, Space & Tech Committee on 9/20/2010? $500. Folks, $500 and a nickel will not get you a cup of coffee in the House. Frankly, that has to go down as an insult.
Elon did manage to give Wassermann-Schultz $1,000…I’m sure that will go a long way after she watched Grayson and Kosmas get blown out of the water during a full Republican sweep of FL in the last mid-term.
But last February, Elon did gave Mikulski $4,800. Unfortunately, Elon’s donation paled after Orbital’s MD office got a Anti-Deficiency letter from NASA last April. And it looked even weaker after the MD Democratic Senator got more from a dinner in Huntsville, AL sponsored by…wait for it…Alabama Republican Richard Shelby. Now that is bipartisanship!
Notice that Elon also supported VT Dem. Leahy. Guess he hopes Leahy will be able to counter Mikulski, Inouye, Feinstein, Landreiu, Cochran, Shelby, Hutchison, Alexander and Murkowsky on space funding. We’ll see how that goes.
Szebehely wrote @ January 19th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
Actually, Senator Leahy is reasonably well connected, and favors the anti-pork get-it-done nature of Obama’s 2011 proposal for NASA’s budget and direction.
Where many don’t get it, Leahy does.