Meanwhile, Down in the Sunshine State, Dark Clouds Appear…

Florida Senator Bill Nelson

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson’s funding bill for NASA seems to have pleased very few people in the state he represents, with some saying it removes valuable programs from Florida while other complaining that it doesn’t go far enough in saving jobs.

Sunshine State News explains:

The Nelson-backed compromise legislation would accelerate development of a heavy-lift rocket — a move that Space Coast officials applauded Thursday — but it pulls $13.8 billion from projects that would have benefited Florida….

[Space Florida President Frank] DiBello said, “We are concerned that heavy-lift development will be paid for by line items in the budget that were good for Florida — specifically technology development and the commercial crew venture, for which the Kennedy Space Center was to be the manager.”

“A delay in the commercial crew component places onerous restrictions” on future NASA launch initiatives, DiBello added.

The benefits to speeding up the HLV are more long term for Florida. In the short term, the rocket will be developed in Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and Utah.

Meanwhile, Florida Rep. Bill Posey is continuing his fight to keep space shuttles flying until a successor vehicle is ready to take over. Shuttle missions would end next year under both President Barack Obama’s proposed budget and the Senate funding bill.

“Legislation I introduced over a year ago would have continued to fly the space shuttle until either the Constellation is ready to come online, or another commercial vehicle is ready to take its place,” Posey said. “In my view, that’s the best way to maintain America’s national security, leadership in space, and meet our future mission commitments.”

Read the full story.