Space shuttle Atlantis lands on runway 33 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility concluding the STS-129 mission. Photo credit: NASA Jack Pfaller

Rep. Suzanne Kosmas Press Release
December 18, 2009

(Washington, DC) – Today, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) responded to comments made about human spaceflight by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Earlier this week when asked about increased funding for NASA’s human spaceflight program, Speaker Pelosi said that she is not “a big fan of manned expeditions to outer space, in terms of safety and cost,” and that “a judgment will be made as to what it does in terms of job creation,” (Florida Today, 12/17/09).

In response to the comments, Kosmas sent a letter to the Speaker outlining the numerous economic benefits of human spaceflight and highlighting the thousands of jobs that depend on a strong space program.

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Top US lawmaker skeptical of new space funding
AFP

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was personally skeptical of manned space missions and warned that NASA’s future funding could depend on whether it was likely to create jobs.

Pelosi vowed “harsh scrutiny” of all spending requests and said she would be asking “what is the mission? How will the money effectively be spent, in what period of time, to create jobs, compared to what?”

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Roll Call reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was turned down from an autograph by Neil Armstrong on Tuesday in Washington:

“I’m sorry, I don’t do that anymore,” Armstrong informed the autograph-seeker.

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A few new matters relating to the NASA Administrator or, more specifically, the lack of one. Apparently, this is causing problems at NASA. Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the House heartily endorsed one rumored candidate while a leader of the NewSpace movement floated the name of another.

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