Republicans in Space

At the Republican convention in Orlando last weekend, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp revealed that he has been talking to Gov. Charlie Crist about aggressively weighing in on President Obamas plan to scrap NASAs plans for manned flights to the moon.

Kottkamp stressed that the budget cutswould mean the loss of at least 7,000 jobs directly on the Space Coast with 13,000 jobs being lost indirectly. As one of his duties in the Crist administration, Kottkamp serves as Chairman of the Space Florida Board of Directors.

At least one Crist ally has taken Kottkamps advice to heart. In an article at Florida Today, U.S. Sen. George LeMieux touches on how Obamas budget will impact jobs on the Space Coast. LeMieux also calls for Obama to call for manned space flights to either the moon or Mars; extend the space shuttle program until 2016 (as opposed toU.S. Rep.Bill Posey who has been urging it to be extended until 2015); and for the development of a new heavy-lift launch system.