Shelby seeks a critical mass

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) hasn’t changed his mind about NASA’s new direction, one that cancels Constellation and seeks to develop commercial systems to transport crews to and from low Earth orbit. He does realize, though, that he has a challenge in front of him: convincing fellow members of Congress that don’t think much about space to join him in blocking the plan. “Of course we have that with delegations from the five or so states that have an interest in NASA, but it is getting the other 45 states to care that’s the trick,” he told the Huntsville Times. And in a separate Monday in Huntsville, he said, “We’ve got to create critical mass.” How he plans to create that “critical mass” among members who don’t think much about space wasn’t discussed.
In his meeting with the Times Shelby reiterated his opposition to supporting commercial ventures to launch astronauts. “We have a space industry already. We build rockets right here in North Alabama. It makes no sense to enter into business with unproven companies.” That statement is a little odd since United Launch Alliance, a company that does build rockets in North Alabama, is one company that has expressed an ...