Destroying NASA kills the Space Program

Some people want to save the space program, still. As a Member of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), who was one of the few Representatives who signed the letter of 27 Congressmen to NASA Administrator Bolden a week ago, who does not have a NASA center in his district, has emphasized the impact of the proposed cancellation of NASA's manned space program to the nation's
defense.

In a Feb. 16 discussion with the editorial board of the {Clipper} paper, in Bountiful, Utah, Representative Bishop stated: "Left in the wreckage of this decision will be the destruction of at least 20,000 private sector jobs." That
includes 2,000 in Utah. "The kinds of skills needed to build NASA rockets are the same skills needed to build missiles used in the defense of our nation, and they rely on the same rocket motor technology." (Solid rocket motors for military and civilian rockets are built by ATK in Promonotry, Freeport Center, and Salt Lake County).

But, Bishop emphasized, this is not only about jobs. "Most importantly, it is absolutely about our Constitutional responsibility to provide for the common defense," he said. "In each area, the Obama plan fails America.... Already a bi-partisan Congressional effort is challenging the Administration's proposal
that harms America's role in space, hurts our economy, and damages our missile defense and national security. We must and can do better." That is why Obama has to go.