Palazzo to chair House science committee’s space subcommittee

By Jeff Foust on 2011 January 20 at 6:14 pm ET

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee announced this afternoon subcommittee assignments for the committee’s Republican members. A freshman member, Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS), will chair the space and aeronautics subcommittee. He is, as noted here earlier this week, one of several new Republican members with NASA centers in their districts; in Palazzo’s case, it’s NASA Stennis. “South Mississippi is home to many NASA assets, but I will work with my colleagues from all NASA-impacted states to help shape the future of space policy,” he said in the committee’s statement.

Other Republican members of the committee include:

Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Frank Lucas (R-OK)
Todd Akin (R-MO)
Michael McCaul (R-TX)
Sandy Adams (R-FL)
Scott Rigell (R-VA)
Mo Brooks (R-AL)

Democratic members of the full committee or its space subcommittee haven’t been announced, but should be coming in the immediate future. The committee’s first meeting, an organizational meeting, is scheduled for the morning of Tuesday the 25th. (Update: the committee sent out an advisory Thursday evening saying the meeting has been postponed; a new date hasn’t been announced.)

Coastal Ron

January 20, 2011 at 6:35 pm · Reply

Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS) said â€œSouth Mississippi is home to many NASA assets, but I will work with my colleagues from all NASA-impacted states to help shape the future of space policyâ€

In other words, he will make decisions based on how NASA impacts the committee’s congressional districts, instead of for the good of the nation. That’s pork you can believe in…

James T

January 20, 2011 at 7:14 pm · Reply

Palazzo’s campaign website doesn’t even mention space under “issues”. But under “Jobs” he does say:

Real job growth is jobs that are created not through buoyed government spending or pork barrel projects, but instead jobs created through expanding businesses reaping the benefits of free market principles.

Let’s see if he eats those words… with a side of pork.

Jonathan Goff

January 21, 2011 at 12:01 am · Reply

James,
Even Shelby could be mistaken for a free-marketeer if you actually believed his rhetoric (and hadn’t seen his actions). It’s kind of sad that Dana not only didn’t get the committee chairmanship, but the subcommittee chairmanship went to a freshman congressman.

~Jon

Ben Russell-Gough

January 21, 2011 at 4:48 am · Reply

@ Coastal Ron, James T.,

We Brits have a saying: “How do you know when a politician is lying? His mouth is moving and noises are coming out.”

Robert G. Oler

January 21, 2011 at 5:23 am · Reply

All things being equal inertia wins out in these committees and had NASA a well managed and well performing program to implement Bush’s “vision” (almost to kind a word) …Cx would have continued.

The problem is however that all things are not being equal. Cx is floundering/overbudget, there is no money for tossing more money at the problem and there is no political support for tossing more money…worse for NASA while they are underperforming the private sector is starting to perform and for a reasonable price.

It is going to take a little finness but Charlie seems up for it and things are moving along quite nicely.

Before long we will hear one of two things.

1. There is no money for a heavy lift as the NASA budget declines.

2. If there is the money the only version of an HLV that can be done is something that says goodbye to shuttle legacy hardware…and we need to bid that out commercially.

or some combination of the two.

But in any respect the notion of a SD heavy lift…is “dead”

Long Live The Republic