June 20, 2021

Florida Member of House Science Committee is Severely Factually Challenged (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Florida Congressman Michael Waltz, a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, should know what he’s talking about on space. Alas, he is severely factually challenged. Here is the assessment he gave to Fox News the other day about NASA and the U.S. space program: "More diversity [is]  great [but] what we need to be focused on is getting more Americans into space because right now the Chinese are passing us. They are kicking our butts up there, and it’s a real problem."

He incorrectly stated there were "more Chinese launches in space last year than the rest of the world combined, including the United States... The Chinese just sent lunar lander and moon rocks because they plan to mine the moon for rare Earth minerals. We haven’t done that since the 1970s... our entire modern economy is dependent on what’s up there and militarily you can’t be number one on Earth if you are number two in space." Click here. (6/19)

Arkansas Gubernatorial Candidate Had Astronaut Aspirations at NASA (Source: @JonesForAR)
Chris Jones, Ph.D., a physicist and christian minister, is running against former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to be the next governor of Arkansas. His campaign highlights his post-Challenger inspiration to work for NASA, wanting to join the astronaut corps but ultimately receiving a NASA scholarship and spending time at Marshall Space Flight Center. Click here. (6/19) 

Funding for Bezos Space Company Fails to Launch in House (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Despite bipartisan Senate support for more lunar lander funding for NASA, members from both parties made clear the $10 billion authorization, pushed by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) for a second moon lander contract was a nonstarter for the House’s version of science and innovation legislation. Blue Origin filed a complaint with the GAO after SpaceX won the contract, urging the government to reassess and award a second contract. Senate progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have urged their House colleagues to remove the measure.

House Science Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and top Republican Frank Lucas this week put out a bill that takes a markedly different approach to U.S.-China competition and technological innovation, principally by spending much less, and it doesn’t include additional authorization for moon lander funds. Johnson has been skeptical of NASA’s goal of returning to the moon by 2024. NASA head Bill Nelson is supportive of the Senate measure, saying it “sets us on a path to execute many landings on the Moon in this decade.” (6/18)