New SPS Funding?
FYI,
Keith Cowing at NASA Watch <http://www.reston.com/NASA/watch.html> is
reporting new hope for SPS research funding.
> 24 December 1997: Did OMB put a Solar Power Satellite in NASA's
stocking?
> We have received reliable reports concering one small part of
> OMB's passback on the FY 1999 NASA budget. Apparently,
> there is a small amount of money there ($5 to $10 million
> range) for Solar Power Satellite research. We have been given
> indications that there is some White House interest in this
> concept as a potential way of reducing Carbon Dioxide
> emissions - a hot issue at the recent Kyoto Summit.
> Dan Goldin's team is not unified in their support of this concept
> though. We have heard that Goldin's interest revolves around
> possible use of SPS in Martian exploration as a possible
> alternative to the politically risky notion of launching nuclear
> reactors. There has also been some recent interest in both
> Code M and Code Z.
> Meanwhile, NASA Associate Deputy Administrator (Technical)
> Mike Mott has made his opposition to the SPS concept clearly
> known - both within and outside NASA Headquarters. In
> November, Mott told an Aerospace Industries Association
> meeting that he thought the idea was 'crazy'. Mott seems to
> have his own priorities instead, having pushed for a Mars
> mission as part of NASA's response to OMB's budget - as if
> OMB would have been in the mood to fund a human Mars
> mission when cutting NASA's budget was clearly its sole intent
> - reality check, please.
> Meanwhile, the House seems to be very interested in the
> concept - most notable are Space and Aeronautics
> Subcommittee chair Dana Rohrabacher and vice-chair Dave
> Weldon. We understand that ranking minority member George
> Brown is also expressing some interest in SPS - along the
> lines voiced behind the scenes by the Clinton Administration.
> We can't predict at this point whether this work will actually be
> approved by Congress or whether, instead, it will be decided
> that in these times of tight budgets, NASA needs to focus on
> what it already has on its plate. However, the interest in (and
> potential support of) the SPS concept seems to be real and
> bipartisan, and the amount of money trivial in the grand scheme
> of things. It sure looks like something will happen.
> Meanwhile, check our Solar Power Satellites page for a
> collection of SPS resources on the web.
<http://www.reston.com/NASA/solar.sats.html>
--
Mark Reiff <mreiff1@xxxxxxxxxx>
Gratuitous political statement, look here ->
<http://www.earthlink.net/~markreiff/pork.jpg>
"I think we are all trying too hard to push space
versus finding the pulls that attract people and their money."
"The heavens reward great deeds, not excuses."
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