Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Eileen Collins to GOP: Return space program to past glory

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: July 21, 2016 at 9:17:46 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Eileen Collins to GOP: Return space program to past glory

Astronaut Eileen Collins to GOP: Return space program to past glory
By Eric DuVall | July 20, 2016 at 9:01 PM

CLEVELAND, July 20 (UPI) -- Eileen Collins, the first female NASA astronaut to command a space shuttle mission, addressed the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, calling for new leadership to restore America's space program to its former glory.
Speaking on the 47th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldron first landing on the moon, Collins called on Americans to renew their commitment to the exploration of space.
"In 2011 the space shuttle program ended. The last time the United States launched our own astronauts from our own soil was more than five years ago. We must do better than that," she said.
Space exploration, Collins said, has also benefitted the American economy and contributed to technological advancements and scientific discoveries.
"We landed on the moon to fulfill a leadership challenge and to explore. We know that exploration leads to innovation and discovery," she said.
Collins' speech did not mention any politicians by name, though she did plead for a president who will "make America's space program first again" -- a play on the theme of the convention's third night.
"Nations that lead on the frontier lead in the world. We need that visionary leadership again, leadership that will inspire the next generations of explorers," Collins said.

© 2016 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Collins, in convention speech, wants the U.S. to be "first again" in space
by Jeff Foust — July 20, 2016
Former astronaut Eileen Collins speaking at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 20. Credit: RNC webcast
WASHINGTON — In a brief but highly anticipated speech at the Republican National Convention July 20, former astronaut Eileen Collins called for the U.S. to be "first again" in space, but stopped short of explicitly endorsing the party's presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Collins, who spoke for less than four minutes as part of a series of speakers in the first hour of that evening's convention session in Cleveland, praised the country's achievements in the Apollo program on the 47th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 landing, while also suggesting the nation was no longer a leader in space.
"Forty-seven years ago, on this very day, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin answered that call and they walked on the moon," she said, referring to the goal set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to land humans on the moon by the end of the 1960s. "We landed on the moon to fulfill a leadership challenge, and to explore."
Collins, who became the first woman to shuttle mission in 1999 and also, in 2005, commanded the first shuttle mission after the Columbia accident, was subtly critical of the decision to cancel the shuttle program. That decision that dates back to the rollout of the Vision for Space Exploration by President George W. Bush in January 2004.
"In 2011, the space shuttle program ended. The last time the United States launched our own astronauts from our own soil was over five years ago," she said. The final shuttle mission, STS-135, launched on July 8, 2011. "We must do better than that," she continued, with some cheers from the audience.
"Nations that lead on the frontier lead in the world. We need that visionary leadership again," she said near the end of her speech. "We need leadership that will make America's space program first again, and we need leadership that will make America great again."
Collins did not mention Trump by name in her speech, although the "make America great again" line is also the slogan of the Trump campaign. However, in prepared remarks distributed by the Republican National Committee, her speech included a different final line: "We need leadership that will make America first again. That leader is Donald Trump."
Collins, who retired from the NASA astronaut corps in 2006, criticized the Obama Administration's 2010 decision to cancel the Constellation program in testimony at a hearing of the House Science Committee in February on legislation that would restructure the management of the space agency.
"I was shocked, as were my colleagues, first because it was so unexpected, and second because the timing was so close to the end of the space shuttle program it left NASA with no options," she said.
"I believe program cancellation decisions that are made by bureaucracies behind closed doors, without input by the people, are divisive, damaging, cowardly and many times more expensive in the long run," she said.
Collins spoke after a video aired marking the Apollo anniversary that also recognized Ohio's connections to spaceflight, including the Wright Brothers, Neil Armstrong and John Glenn, the first American in space who later represented the state in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat.
"Say an extra prayer that the U.S. will soon reclaim its rightful place as the leader in space exploration," the video's narrator said near its conclusion. "Because we will summon the courage and strength to make America great again."
Trump, during the primary campaign to win the Republican nomination, made only passing references to space in speeches, and his campaign has not issued a space policy. The Republican platform, approved earlier this week, includes only a brief passage about space, much of it endorsing the use of public-private partnerships.
Hillary Clinton, who will formally receive the Democratic Party nomination for president at that party's convention the week of July 25 in Philadelphia, has also said little about space during the campaign and has not issued a policy. Her campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Collins' speech.

© 2016 SpaceNews, Inc. All rights reserved.

Astronaut Eileen Collins Calls for US Space Leadership at GOP Convention
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | July 20, 2016 11:37pm ET
NASA astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman ever to pilot and command a space shuttle mission, poses for a photo in the leadup to the STS-93 flight of the shuttle Columbia, which launched in July 1999.
Credit: NASA
The first woman ever to command a space shuttle mission lamented a perceived lack of leadership in the United States' space program tonight (July 20) during a speech at the Republican National Convention.
Speaking on the 47th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing, retired NASA astronaut Eileen Collins urged the nation to reclaim the spirit and glory of the Apollo era.
"We landed on the moon to fulfill a leadership challenge, and to explore," Collins said, referring to President John F. Kennedy's famous 1961 call for NASA to put an astronaut on the moon, and bring him safely home, by the end of the decade. [NASA's Historic Apollo 11 Moon Landing in Pictures]
"We are all so proud of our Apollo program that put our astronauts on the moon first, in peace, for all mankind," she added. "Nations that lead on the frontier lead in the world. We need that visionary leadership again."
Collins pointed to the lack of American crew-carrying spaceships as evidence of a current leadership void.
"In 2011, the space shuttle program ended. The last time the United States launched our own astronauts from our own soil was over five years ago," said Collins, who spent more than 36 days in space over four different space shuttle missions between 1995 and 2005. "We must do better than that."
American astronauts currently launch toward the International Space Station aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft, but things should change soon. Over the past few years, NASA has been funding the development of private astronaut taxis, including Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule and SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Both vehicles are on track to begin flying astronauts next year, NASA officials have said.
Collins has been critical in the past of the Obama Administration's 2010 cancellation of NASA's moon-oriented Constellation program. Her four-minute speech tonight didn't include any political jabs or endorsements, though she did wrap it up by echoing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign slogan.
"We need leadership that will make America's space program first again," Collins said. "And we need leadership that will make America great again."
Collins wasn't the only one to do some Apollo-gizing tonight. Texas Senator Ted Cruz invoked Apollo 11 as well, linking the historic lunar landing to what he said is a key characteristic of the nation, and the Republican Party in particular.
"That was the power of freedom," said Cruz, who chairs the Senate's Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness.

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