Sandy Adams Fights to Save Space Shuttle and 7,000 Jobs

Uploaded on October 13, 2009 by sandy adams © All rights reserved.

Article: The Orlando Sentinel reported that several Space Coast community leaders are fighting to save the space shuttle and its 7,000 attendant jobs: “With 7,000 Florida jobs in the balance and no word on what President Barack Obama will decide about NASA's future, a last-ditch campaign to save the space shuttle is taking shape, seeking to save the aging orbiters and their work force before the final mission launches later this year. A few members of Congress, some NASA contractors and even senior space-agency managers have started pushing for measures ranging from keeping the fleet flying until 2015 to adding just one more flight.” (Mark Matthews and Robert Block, “Some won't give up on trying to save shuttle,” Orlando Sentinel, 1/20/10)

But Rep. Suzanne Kosmas is not one of them: “U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, whose district includes KSC, says she doesn't want to back more shuttle flights if it ‘ties the hands’ of the administration to begin a more-ambitious program to explore the inner solar system. A White House decision is due soon. ‘None of us want to let go of the shuttle program,’ said the New Smyrna Beach Democrat. ‘But at the end of the day, we are going to enter a new phase of exploration, so we have to be advancing that.’” (Mark Matthews and Robert Block, “Some won't give up on trying to save shuttle,” Orlando Sentinel, 1/20/10)

Sandy Adams will fight to protect your jobs and our economy:

“Suzanne Kosmas doesn’t understand this issue. It’s not only about exploration – it’s about jobs, national security, research and the economy. America must continue to be the world leader in space exploration which includes keeping our space shuttle program solvent. As a State Representative I have worked to protect the thousands of jobs that fuel our regional economy and advocate for the research and development built on NASA technologies. I will continue to do that as your U.S. Representative.”

“It is kind of Representative Kosmas to be concerned about tying the hands of the administration but where is her concern for the thousands of hands of families in this district. Florida cannot afford Suzanne’s solutions.” – Sandy Adams.

TEXT CREDIT: Sandy Adams for Congress PO Box 1566 Orlando, FL 32802

Bob Coggins 'Constellation is dead'

Bob Coggins

"Constellation is dead," an external White House advisor told AFP on Friday, referring to the program that envisioned using the Moon as a base for manned expeditions to Mars. Under a new plan, Obama will propose boosting the development of commercial rockets and other vehicles that can ferry US astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA is estimated to have already spent a little over nine billion dollars on Constellation, including 3.5 billion on the Ares 1 and 3.7 billion on Orion.

The Obama administration plans to hike NASA's budget by 5.9 billion dollars over five years to boost commercial development, with the goal of a first commercial flight to the ISS launching by 2015, the advisor said.

In the meantime, NASA will rely on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to ferry US astronauts to the orbiting space station after the shuttle program is retired. (Source: AFP news service)

This means the White House does not care about jobs here in Florida, nor does he care
about keeping America the leading space nation. Cancelling the Constellation program would allow the Chinese and Russian space programs to catch up and surpass the United States in Space exploration. The thought of spending billions of dollars on a noble endeavour only to kill it halfway through is not the American way I remember.

I find it odd, and more than a little suspect that the Obama administration suddenly started caring about jobs and the budget deficit once Scott Brown won Sen. Kennedy's vacant seat in Massachusetts. The whole agenda of our new president's first year was the Stimulus Bill, Cap and Trade, and Socialising Health Care. Interestingly enough, now that the democrats are feeling vulnerable due to their poor governance, they have switched gears and are pretending to care about the people instead of their own legacies. I don't buy it for a second. And as your Senator I will continue the fight to keep America the leaders in space, and to keep jobs here in Florida.

TEXT CREDIT: Bob Coggins for Senate

PHOTO CREDIT: Bob Coggins on Facebook