Model of NASA's Orion spacecraft
Former Congressmen Nick Lampson and Dave Weldon have authored an op-ed piece in The Washington Times urging the American government to move full steam ahead on NASA’s plan to return humans to the moon by 2020:
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“Dave Weldon”
Responding to critics back home, former Florida Space Coast Congressman David Weldon has defended his decision to serve on the board of the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reports:
“Weldon said his interests and involvement with NASA and Cape Canaveral space projects would not conflict with those of Alaska’s because the two do not compete: Florida does equatorial launches and AADC’s Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) does polar launches.”
It seems that former Florida Congressman Dave Weldon – who represented Florida’s Space Coast for 14 years – has a new gig: as a director of the Alaska Aerospace Development Corp., the state agency that runs the Kodiak Launch Complex. And it’s got a few people in the Sunshine State feeling a bit betrayed.
To rely on Russia for the future of the U.S. Space Program is Irresponsible and Dangerous
Press Release
12 September 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Dave Weldon (FL-15) denounced the efforts by Senator Bill Nelson and others to obtain a waiver of the Iran Nonproliferation Act for NASA.
This waiver would allow the U.S. to purchase the Russian-made Soyuz spacecraft and force the U.S. to rely on Russia over the next five to seven years to transport American astronauts in space to reach the U.S.-led International Space Station.
Last week, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin sat down the Houston Chronicle’s editorial board and reporter Eric Berger to discuss a range of issues. Some highlights: Griffin is opposed, for reasons of safety and cost, to efforts by Congressman Dave Weldon and others to extend the shuttle program beyond 2010. China will “probably” get to the moon before the United States. “They are constructing a very well-crafted space program. They are […]
New space shuttle manager John Shannon said NASA should not extend operations of the vehicle beyond its planned retirement date in 2010, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Although the shuttle is an “awesome” spacecraft, it is also aging and flawed. “I should not have to go inspect my vehicle after ascent to make sure I survived my ascent environment,” Shannon said. “Its flexibility makes it unparalleled in building a space […]
With the retirement of the space shuttle only 2 1/2 years away, NASA officials and Congressional representatives are increasingly worried about a possible five-year gap in flight operations until a successor vehicle can take over.
In Congressional testimony, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, who has lead the agency since 2005, referred to the gap as his “greatest regret and greatest concern….We will be largely dependent on the Russians, and that is terrible place for the United States to be. I’m worried, and many others are worried.”
NASA will not be able to independently reach a space station it has spent 25 years building. Instead, the space agency will be dependent upon Russian Soyuz spacecraft until it can bring its Ares/Orion system online around 2015.