January 27, 2012 7:46 PM

Romney more grounded than Gingrich on the Space Coast

By
Sarah B. Boxer
Topics
Campaign 2012

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at Astrotech Space Operations in Cape Canaveral, Fla., , Jan. 27, 2012.

(Credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

TITUSVILLE, Fla. -- In sharp contrast to Newt Gingrich's lofty plans to colonize the moon, Mitt Romney came to Florida's Space Coast on Friday with an approach seemingly more grounded in the reality of constrained federal budgets.

Speaking to about 150 people at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Romney told the crowd, "It's time to have a mission for the space program of the United States of America." He declined to offer more specifics, but said he would not pander in order to achieve that goal.

"In the politics of the past, to get your vote ... I'd come here and promise hundreds of billions of dollars," Romney said. "Or I'd lay out what my mission is: here's what we're going to accomplish. I'm not going to do that. I know that's something that's very attractive, very popular, but it's simply the wrong thing to do. It's not the way that the best decisions are made."

Romney said his background in the private sector precluded him from blindly promising money to the space program, as had been done in the past. "Politicians love the idea of coming in and saying what they're going to do without having studied it, without having carried out the analysis, and gotten the data, done the hard work," he said.

Romney said he would team up with the military and leading astrophysicists to determine NASA's future. Earlier in the day, his campaign released a list of leaders in the space community endorsing Romney, which included Bob Crippen, pilot of the first shuttle mission, and Michael Griffin, a former NASA administrator who staunchly opposed the end of the shuttle program.

When the program ended this past July, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 jobs were lost in this part of Florida, between the Kennedy Space Center and surrounding local businesses. Titusville itself had been shuttered after the Apollo program ended in the 1970s, only to be resurrected once the shuttle program began about a decade later. Now, it has again been shell-shocked by the huge job drain.

In 2006, President George W. Bush decided to retire the shuttle program, citing budgetary concerns . President Obama upheld the decision, hoping that taking the space program off the federal budget would encourage private companies to reach for the stars themselves -- the first commercial spacecrafts are currently hoped to take off in 2015. As a result, the United States has no manned space program of its own at the present time.


  • Sarah B. Boxer

    Sarah B. Boxer is covering the Mitt Romney campaign for CBS News and National Journal.

Add a Comment See all 15 Comments
by ToolMangler1 January 28, 2012 6:27 PM EST
You can make light of it if you wish, but the 'simple truth' is The nation that controls the Moon by having a viable (self reliant) Colony on it, ultimately controls the Earth by virtue of having a 'gravity well to throw rocks into'. As I have said before, read "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein. and then look at Chinas progress in space research. I promise you, "They have read the book"... (The launching system for the "Rocks" is currently being installed as an "Aircraft" launcher on our newest Carriers.) If something that small can hurl a '61,000 lbs.' (loaded weight) Aircraft into the air, it is more than capable of doing the same with other masses, "Rocks, Nukes, Chemical bombs" and such with accuracy at the Earths cities and nations. And most times we couldn't see them coming until they hit the atmosphere..
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by ToolMangler1 January 28, 2012 6:31 PM EST
I don't believe that the Gnewt would build it, I am hoping Obama starts a pilot project to study all of the possibilities for doing this. I believe it is crucial to us to "NOT" abandon the Moon to the other 'powers' on this planet.
by RobAla January 28, 2012 5:27 PM EST
Whether you like Romney or not, I find it refreshing to see a politician NOT pandering to a special interest group. I was very surprise during the last debate to hear Romney tell them that promises of goodies to each state by politicians is part of what has gotten the United States into the trouble we are in. He is absolutely right. This game has to come to an end. In order to salvage the United States from bankruptcy we are going to have to make very hard decisions and living with them will not be fun. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to do it.
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by voxtrot January 28, 2012 5:25 PM EST
Imagine how South Carolina feels...They sold out thier claim to beint the state that always gets the Republican nomination right...They sold it out for the promise of improvments to the Port of Charleston. Then after being NEWTED they realize that the next state over he is literally PROMISING THE MOON...OUCH
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by nancy_naive January 28, 2012 2:57 PM EST
Mitt, they don't need you. Haven't used a chimp in a space shot in decades.
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by Sloughfoot January 28, 2012 10:14 AM EST
Wrong time to be dedicating tax dollars for pie in te sky. The Space industry revolutionized the electronics industry as well as others, however, the expense to the tax payer is still being felt today. A National Space Program can never be regenerative and will always feed off of the tax payer. Another time will come for us to sail to the stars with the wind to our back but next year is not our time.
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by RandallRichard January 28, 2012 6:21 AM EST
One of my favorite early tea part moments was watching a rally from south florida where lots of people had signs saying cut governments spending others, had signs saying taxed enough already etc. But many of them also had signs calling for increased funding for NASA. They interviewed a woman who said that might seem inconsistent but spending on NASA is "good" spending while other government spending is "bad". This is the essence of the tea party. "Cut every government program except the ones I benefit from, of course."
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by democracy8 January 28, 2012 9:03 AM EST
Exactly. Because they want jobs but think that the rest of the unemployed are that way just because they're lazy.
by RandallRichard January 28, 2012 6:13 AM EST
The best way to explore space in the future is to use robots. Romney looks like a good candidate to be the first semi-humanoid mostly plastic robot to go to mars.
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by NewtsArmy931 January 27, 2012 10:43 PM EST
Your choice for Presidential should be based on a question. Which of the candidates will go to Washington and kick the health out of those corrupt Washington Congressmen?
"Greed is the root of all evil"
Newtsarmy2012.com
Reply to this comment
by democracy8 January 28, 2012 9:02 AM EST
Then he should start with himself. I mean, really, you CAN'T be serious!
by sailrick January 27, 2012 10:22 PM EST
"Romney said he would team up with the military and leading astrophysicists to determine NASA's future"

Maybe they will clue him in on the reality of climate change.
The Pentagon takes it seriously and sees it as well as Peak Oil as threats to national security.

Romney and Gingrich have flip flopped on it, joining the anti science cult in the GOP. The only political party in the world that denies global warming, which virtually every major science organization in the world, and 97% of active climate scientists agree on.
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by Jhihmoac January 27, 2012 9:04 PM EST
"These are the voyages of the starship, 'Booby-Prize'..."
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