Mitt Romney gave a speech on space January 27 in Brevard County, Florida.
The same day Romney received an Open Letter from eight space leaders, including former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, declaring “Romney Will Restore America’s Space Program.”
This long essay defends the NSS Vision against those who, like the author of the book being reviewed, think “we shouldn’t colonize Mars or the Moon, or even vacation there.” Ben Bramble, an Australian philosopher who teaches at Australian National University, has penned a YAASS (Yet Another Anti-Space-Settlement) book. These books are multiplying like flies, so space settlement advocates must be gaining ground to generate such an abundant response.
In HOTOL & Skylon: The Story of Britain’s Spaceplanes, Rob Coppinger covers the story of both in great detail, with the reminiscences of many who played integral roles in these ambitious programs. The book shines when it captures the enthusiasm and excitement of those involved, and there are extensive quotes from many who devoted years of work on these projects.
Anyone seeking a short but comprehensive introduction to human spaceflight would do well to start with this book. It reviews its history, highlights the accomplishments and tragedies, and describes the equipment used. It also looks at living in space, what space travelers experience, and how they work.
Back in 1966, Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon. Apogee Books has provided an English-language NASA translation of a detailed report originally released by the USSR Academy of Sciences.
By Robin Scott NSS Chapter Middle Tennessee Space Society (MTSS) President Chuck Schlemm performs outreach, directly contacting about 560 attendees (STEM teachers, school faculty, students,...
By Burt Dicht NSS Space Coast Correspondent Some weeks in spaceflight are just busy. This one was something more. Over a period of four days,...
By Burt Dicht NSS Space Coast Correspondent A large anvil cloud hanging over Florida’s Space Coast added some uncertainty to the final hours of the...
Applications open 1 Oct – 1 Dec, 2026 The National Space Society’s Global Space Debates is a unique, 100% virtual program that brings high school...
3 thoughts on “Mitt Romney on Space”
I can save people 17 minutes with this summary/translation of Romney’s non-policy speech:
“Since I don’t know diddley-squat about this subject, what I plan to do is convene a commission of experts to advise us on how to get out of the complete mess that we’ve gotten into after umpteen previous expert commissions have deliberated the same issues.”
Thank you David!
The average working person probably has no time to seriously look into the importance of the space programs and the cost if NASA has their way. I suspect most are looking at the economy and more jobs as an emergency fix without connecting the dots. NASA=$$$$$$$
It seems it is the way of the lobbyist to make policy. I highly recommend reading the Jack Abramoff interview on 60 Minutes: http://redgreenandblue.org/2011/11/07/how-does-the-1-percent-fix-the-game-convicted-lobbyist-jack-abramoff-spills-the-beans-on-60-minutes/
Thank you for focusing in on the main Presidential candidates and their views on the US space program.
I’d not blame the folks at NASA so much, at least not this group. They would like to do the right thing but it does not fit into the appropriate pork barrels. The Congress and Senate really care little about the country as a whole; they do not care if the US actually succeeds in space. They care that their local election cash coffers are filled by bringing home the bacon.
That is not a way to get humanity into space. I am much afraid all a President Mitt would do is feed the porkers in return for votes. The end result would be more of what we had up until Lori got into the Deputy Admin post. The fact that Griffen, author of ‘Apollo on Steroids’, is backing this guy should tell you all that you need to know.