Report Endorses NASA's Proposed Contribution to Euclid Mission

"A new National Research Council report responds to a request from NASA to evaluate this possible U.S. contribution to Euclid and concludes that the investment of approximately $20 million in hardware would be a valuable first step toward meeting the scientific goals of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), which is one of the top-ranked priorities recommended in New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics, the National Research Council's recent decadal survey of research priorities in astronomy and astrophysics. However, the new report concluded, the Euclid mission on its own is not sufficient for achieving the broader decadal survey goals for the WFIRST mission, nor will it seek to accomplish the more ambitious goals for WFIRST's dark energy measurements."

Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)

NASA Receives Second Highest Number of Astronaut Applications

"More than 6,300 individuals applied to become a NASA astronaut between Nov. 15, 2011 and Jan. 27, the second highest number of applications ever received by the agency. After a thorough selection process, which includes interviews and medical examinations, nine to 15 people will be selected to become part of the 21st astronaut class."

Keith's note: It would be interesting to know when the highest number of applications were received.

Keith's update: According to NASA PAO, NASA received 8,000 astronaut applications in 1978. Hmm ... It was during 1977 that NASA used Nichelle Nichols to help encourage a broader range of applicants. According to Memory Alpha: "After meeting Nichols at a Star Trek convention in 1975, scientist Dr. Jesco von Puttkamer suggested that the actress take part in NASA's recruitment drive. Nichols took up the role in 1977, making recruitment and training films, and supervising astronaut recruits and hopefuls. She noted that the applicant count went from fewer than 100 a year to 1,649 within six months."

Cislunar is the next destination for America in space, Cislunar Space Next (Paul Spudis)

"Develop a space transportation system using existing assets to the extent possible, build new reusable vehicles to transit cislunar space, develop lunar resources with the aim of propellant production, emplace staging nodes in LEO (use existing ISS), geosynchronous orbit (GEO), Earth-Moon L-1, low lunar orbit (LLO) and on the lunar surface."

Brochure

NASA Internal Memo: Public release of 'We Explore Space' Concept Maps

"We are pleased to notify you that the human space exploration project you graciously offered your time and expertise to support has been completed and is being released to the public at this very moment! You may launch into the "We Explore Space" concept maps from the NASA website."

Keith's note: At first blush there is a blatant omission in this presentation: commercial space - crew and cargo. Given the large amount of money NASA is spending, and the hopes that the agency pins on the private sector for acccess to space, you'd think this would be a prominent theme. Guess not. And the "Previous" and "Next" links do not work on my Mac running OS 10.6.8 in Safari, Firefox, or Chrome browsers.

Keith's update: Well I fiddled with it some more and I found a page that deals with commercial space. But finding it was rather counterintuitive requiring multiple steps where the word "commercial" is not used. Again, given the battles that NASA and the Administration have had with Congress over this issue you'd think they'd want to explain how commerce fits into it. Or maybe they are trying to de-emphasize it so Congress won't complain. Oh yes, you can't print these charts out (easily) on a single sheet of paper. PDF versions would be nice.

That said, I am a fan of mind maps, so this is an interesting approach. The question that really begs an answer is who is the intended audience for this website? The media? Policy wonks? The public? How much this activity cost? How much was the grant? Why is there no press release? 

Reader note 31 Jan: "The following relates to previous discussions on NASAwatch about what text, pictures, items, etc belong to NASA and which belong to the astronauts themselves. I really have been enjoying reading Don Pettit's blog at Air & Space about his life on the ISS. It appears that NASA or someone has censored his blog. His blog entry "Remove before Flight" posted yesterday 1/3/0/2011 is no longer available. Try: this original link and it comes back with nothing. If you enter this into Google, you will see Google's cache of the post: cache:http://blogs.airspacemag.com/pettit/2012/01/30/remove-before-flight/ . I'm also attaching an image of Google's cached page in case the Google cached page disappears."

Keith's 1 Feb update: I am still waiting for a NASA PAO response. I have also requested the original image of the "CAUTION" tag so that we can see what it says.

Keith's 2 Feb update: Still nothing from NASA PAO. This should be a simple request to answer. A non-response leads me to conclude that NASA JSC PAO did in fact have something to do with this.

Keith's 3 Feb update: Still nothing from NASA PAO. Something fishy to all of this.

Virginia Govenor Robert McDonnell to Address 15th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference

"Notable speakers will include: The Honorable Robert McDonnell, governor, Va. ..."

Billie Reed, leader of Virginia's spaceport, is planning retirement, Daily Press

"Virginia is one of handful of states with an operational spaceport courting the aerospace companies. Proposed legislation would boost the authority's budget to $15 million from roughly $2 million in 2011. If approved, the authority will likely double its staff to 12, hire more contractors and, possibly, begin work on infrastructure projects, Reed said. Additional legislation would shrink the board to nine members from 13. Two reports released last year recommended changes to the board, which is made up of state officials, local elected leaders, private industry and academics."

Russia orders Soyuz delays in wake of test mishap, Spaceflight Now

"Outside experts have questioned Russian quality control, but Suffredini said the problems appeared to be unrelated and he expressed confidence his counterparts will get to the bottom of the latest incident, implement corrective actions and move on."

NASA confident in Russia despite space accidents, Reuters

"The latest accident involved a Soyuz capsule being prepared to fly a new crew to the $100 billion orbiting research laboratory on March 29. The spacecraft was inadvertently over-pressurized during testing, rendering it unsuitable for flight."

NASA takes first ever video of dark side of the moon, Fox News

Keith's note: Of course, video has been shot from lunar orbit before and there is no "dark side" of the Moon - all portions of the surface are dark or sunlit at one point or another depending on where the Moon is in its orbit. The only exceptions are some craters in the polar regions which have areas that are always "dark". But if there actually was a "dark" side of the Moon, how would you be able to take a video of it? Alas, despite the inaccurate headline that some genius at Fox came up with, the article itself, written by Space.com's Tariq Malik is completely accurate.

NASA's Management of Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Contracts Funded by the Recovery Act

"We found NASA's Recovery Act internal controls were generally effective in ensuring proper oversight, management, and transparency of Recovery Act funded SBIR/STTR contracts. The contracts we reviewed largely met cost, schedule, and performance milestones. ... However, we also found that due to resource limitations NASA did not implement three Recovery Act internal controls, including two controls relating to COTR certification and training."

NASA Administrator Leads Action Session of President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, NASA

President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and NASA Administrator to Hold Listening and Action Session Highlighting the Importance of Science Education, White House

"On Friday, February 3rd, the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness will hold a Listening and Action Session in Seattle, WA. The Jobs Council, in partnership with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, will discuss ways businesses and organizations like NASA can enhance educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics beyond the classroom to develop a competitive and innovative workforce."

Keith's note: White House and NASA PAO announce this less than 24 hours in advance. There will be no webcast so that we can hear what everyone says. NASA PAO will then they take a week or more to post Bolden's prepared remarks.  No one will ever know what was discussed in any great detail.  Another dog and pony show. Why NASA continues to hide Bolden's presence at things like this until the last minute and then beam him down is baffling. This is an important topic. It deserves more than a last minute media advisory -- and webcasting it does not require rocket science or loads of money.

United Launch Alliance Completes Critical Milestones Toward Certifying Atlas V for Human Spaceflight

"United Launch Alliance (ULA) today announced the completion of two key milestones leading toward the certification of the Atlas V launch vehicle for human spaceflight. ULA has successfully completed the third and fourth milestones of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA). In December, ULA conducted a series of detailed reviews that reflected the culmination of efforts involving technical experts and representatives from NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP)."

Keith's note: Little more than a week ago, at an campaign event with Newt Gingrich, Gingrich asked a bunch of space company reps specifically what it would take to human-rate the Atlas V and how long that would take. No one from ULA could answer. Now this press release comes out addressing that same question in detail. Odd.

Gingrich Talks About Space Policy in Florida (Update), earlier post

This Is NASA's Cancer-Sniffing Cellphone Sensor, Gizmodo

"What if you could use your phone to test the air for toxins? What if you could monitor your health simply by blowing on it? Sounds amazing, right? Nanosensor technology developed by NASA Ames is going to make that a reality."

Keith's note: NASA Ames PAO worked with Gizmodo to generate this article - and others - as part of their "SpaceCamp" series that looks at things inside NASA. Other than a tweet about his series of articles by NASA CTO's Joe Parrish who is actually paying attention (alas he only has 72 followers - please follow him) NASA has done zippo to promote this spinoff. The more things I find written about the value of NASA research the more I find evidence that NASA is asleep at the wheel. This stuff mostly gets written in spite of NASA. And when NASA does assist people as they write stories the agency is clueless as to how to make a simple link on their website to the stories that result.

I am beginning to think that NASA simply doesn't care any more. And if they don't have the energy to do simple PR 101 sort of tasks, why should anyone care what the agency gets in terms of a budget? And who will complain when the budget is cut? Just like the kidney stone spinoff work NSBRI is doing, this NASA-developed sensor array also has the potential for wide utilization here on Earth. But NASA would rather not expend the energy to tell the ultimate stakeholders - i.e. taxpayers - that this is the cool payback that they get for all those billions spent on NASA. Mind boggling.

Keith's update: I am partially wrong. NASA ARC did release a short press release about chemical sensors for a smartphone. But look at the pictures that were released. They are for another, simpler prototype sensing system. This newer hardware is much more advanced and closer to "production". I wonder what this will look like in another couple of months? That's the funny thing about technology. It doesn't stand still while NASA's sluggish PAO efforts do not strive to stay current.

To the moon? It's not that loony, MSNBC

"GOP hopeful Mitt Romney says that he'd fire anyone who suggested spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build a moon colony -- but what about tens of billions of dollars? A former NASA adviser says he and others at the space agency drew up an approach that could put astronauts on the moon for $40 billion, as a "Plan B" for future exploration. "We figured out at NASA how to do it in about 10 years for $40 billion," said Charles Miller, who recently left his position as NASA Headquarters' senior adviser for commercial space and is now president of NextGen Space. "The question is, would Mitt Romney fire me for a proposal to return to the moon for $40 billion?"

Keith's note: According to the official web page for the proposed InSight mission to Mars at NASA JPL: "The InSight mission will fly a near-duplicate of the Mars lander that the Phoenix mission used successfully in 2007 to study ground ice near the north pole of Mars. The reuse of this technology, developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, CO, will provide a low-risk path to Mars without the added cost of designing and testing a new system from scratch." No cost numbers are provided to verify the cost cutting claim.

The highly successful Mars Phoenix is (logically) mentioned as a way to claim cost savings. But when Phoenix was proposed the cost savings from heavy reuse of failed Mars Polar Lander heritage hardware were cited - but never fully explained. If this mission is approved there is no doubt that JPL and SMD PAO will once again try and claim massive cost savings and simultaneously not mention the money spent to develop the hardware for previous missions.

Keith's update: Gee, that was fast. Spin control has begun. JPL PAO's Veronica McGregor just tweeted "@NASAWatch MPL was a different design from the 2001 lander." The University of Arizona's Phoenix site says "The Phoenix Mission uses the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, built in 2000, but later administratively mothballed." According to the NASA NSSDC entry on Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander: "The mission will be based on the Mars '98 Polar Lander". Here we go again, JPL is trying to have it both ways - they want you to accept the fact that InSight uses Phoenix heritage (i.e. the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander) - but they do not want you to know that Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander was very, very closely based on the Mars Polar Lander design - indeed, modifications to what became Phoenix were the direct result of the failure analysis of MPL - that is how closely they were related.

- NASA SMD's Cost Overrun Coverup (updated with Telecon notes), earlier post
- Yet Another Mars Phoenix Cost Figure, earlier post
- The Actual Cost of Mars Phoenix is $520 Million, earlier post
- Why Does The Official Cost of Mars Phoenix Keep Changing?, earlier post
- NASA Has a Problem Calculating - and Admitting - What Space Missions Really Cost, earlier post

Space researchers develop ultrasound technology that detects, treats kidney stones, NSBRI

"Just the mention of kidney stones can cause a person to cringe. They are often painful and sometimes difficult to remove, and 10 percent of the population will suffer from them. In space, the risk of developing kidney stones is exacerbated due to environmental conditions. The health risk is compounded by the fact that resource limitations and distance from Earth could restrict treatment options. Scientists with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) are developing an ultrasound technology that could overcome some medical care challenges associated with kidney stone treatment."

Keith's note: Wow, a real spinoff with potential applications to a vast number of people on Earth. But is there any mention at the OCT website? ISS National Lab? CASIS? Why is NASA so woefully incapable of promoting the actual benefits from its research that it crows about in Congressional testimony and PAO puff pieces?

Keith's update: What is really pathetic - and troubling - is the response posted by ISS contractor employee Justin Kugler in the comments section. Kugler and the people entrusted with the utilization of this expensive national asset seem to be oblivious to the responsibility that they have to explain to all "stakeholders" (including taxpayers) what these tens of billions of dollars have been spent on. When these people can't even get off their collective asses to make note of true and exciting spinoffs of great potential to people (such as this one) you really have to question whether NASA has the right people working on this project - and that starts at the top (Mark Uhran).

Twin inukshuks on Devon Island. On the left is the Challenger Inukshuk on the right is the memorial to a member of the Columbia crew.

NASA Haughton-Mars Project Space Shuttle Columbia Inukshuk Memorials

"To honor the memory of the seven astronauts of Space Shuttle Columbia's last flight, and at the suggestion of our colleague Keith Cowing of SpaceRef, the NASA Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) has established seven astronaut memorial sites on Devon Island, in the Canadian High Arctic, during the summer field seasons of 2003 and 2004. Each site was chosen for its special significance in the NASA HMP's analog exploration program near Haughton Crater, and is marked by an Inukshuk, a traditional Inuit "Stone Person". The Inuit erect Inukshuks to mark land and to guide and comfort travelers on perilous journeys across the Arctic."

Keith Cowing's Devon Island Journal 20 July 2003: Arctic Memorials and Starship Yearnings

"I asked Joe Amaraulik if anyone had ever figured out how long these structures would last. He said he wasn't sure if they had been dated but that there were some that had been in place for many centuries. As for how long this one, which we had just built, would last, Joe (a man of few, but well-chosen words) said "forever". In other words - the next ice age."

Report Identifies 16 Highest Priorities to Guide NASA's Technology Development Efforts for Next Five Years

"It has been years since NASA has had a vigorous, broad-based program in advanced space technology development," said Raymond Colladay, president of RC Space Enterprises Inc., and chair of the committee that wrote the report. "Success in executing future NASA space missions will depend on advanced developments that should already be under way."

NASA Receives Final NRC Report On Space Technology Roadmaps

"The report strongly reaffirms the vital importance of technology development to enable the agency's future missions and grow the nation's new technology economy," said Mason Peck, chief technologist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The report confirms the value of our technology development strategy to date. NASA currently invests in all of the highest-priority technologies and will study the report and adjust its investment portfolio as needed."

Keith's note: According to this project description at the NRC, this project began on 24 September 2010 with a projected final report 17 months later. Given the glacial pace at which NASA incorporates advice - and its tendency to only adopt the portions of the advice they actually want to implement - it will easily take another year to align the NRC report and NASA's plan, synch it with the budget, ongoing and new procurements, etc. Only then will NASA be ready to implement what the NRC has recommended. That's a 2 year lag between advice and implementation.

Of course, just as the new plan settles into place at NASA there might be a new Administration or a new Congress - both of which will fiddle with everything once again. Net result: NASA is always behind. NASA needs to shorten this cycle such that it can respond to emerging trends in technology as they make themselves known - not wait several years and then play catch up. Note that the committee chair said "Success in executing future NASA space missions will depend on advanced developments that should already be under way."

Space tourism to accelerate climate change, Nature

"Climate change caused by black carbon, also known as soot, emitted during a decade of commercial space flight would be comparable to that from current global aviation, researchers estimate. The findings, reported in a paper in press in Geophysical Research Letters, suggest that emissions from 1,000 private rocket launches a year would persist high in the stratosphere, potentially altering global atmospheric circulation and distributions of ozone. The simulations show that the changes to Earth's climate could increase polar surface temperatures by 1 deg C, and reduce polar sea ice by 5-15%."

Technologies that we've lost - and the quest to find them again, io9

"I asked NASA Watch's Keith Cowing about this, and he explained that this is just an urban legend. The schematics are all still around, mostly on microfiche, and any ancient computer files just hold images of the original plans as opposed to now unreadably obsolete data. Still, while the knowledge wasn't lost, it was certainly forgotten, and worse, it was badly organized. As Cowing - himself working on the rediscovery of old NASA documents with the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project - told me, all this archival information was basically abandoned until NASA's started working on the Constellation program last decade, and now that that project has been forgotten the information is again beginning to gather dust. If there is a point of disconnect, it's more in terms of how we understand the information and the different ways in which we approach science forty-five years on"

How NASA Solved a $100 Million Problem for Five Bucks, Gizmodo

"A few years ago, back when the Constellation Program was still alive, NASA engineers discovered that the Ares I rocket had a crucial flaw, one that could have jeopardized the entire project. They panicked. They plotted. They steeled themselves for the hundreds of millions of dollars it was going to take to make things right. And then they found out how to fix it for the cost of an extra value meal."

NASA JSC Solicitation: Single Board Computer For Space

"NASA/JSC has a requirement for a Single Board Computer for Space with the ability to clear errors in 1mS to meet the time to first failure estimate of 3 thousand years. This fidelity in error correction is necessary to meet the expected level of redundancy for a human rated spacecraft. A market survey indicates that Maxwell has the only commercially available singe board computer that will meet the Government's requirements."

Keith's note: Wow. Only one company on Earth makes this device. 3,000 years without an error. Amazing.

Russia blames 'cosmic rays' for Mars probe failure, AFP

"Carrying out such a large-scale, lengthy job, they should have taken into consideration the effect of outer space on the equipment of an interplanetary station." He also blamed sub-standard or fake foreign-made microchips used in the probe, saying more than 60 percent were not designed for use in space. "This is imported equipment and of course this is probably a reason," he said. Russia had previously speculated that radiation from US radar could have put the probe out of action."

Earlier posts

Russia to postpone next manned space launch, AFP

"Krasnov said that delays came after the re-entry capsule of the Soyuz TMA-04M space ship to be used in the mission was shown in testing not to be hermetically sealed and could not be used for safety reasons. That means the next mission will have to replace it with the re-entry capsule intended for the following mission scheduled May 30, which in turn will be delayed."

NASA Announces Awards for 2012 Space Frontier Business Plan Competition

"NASA's Ames Research Center, in conjunction with NASA's Office of the Chief Technologists Emerging Space Office, is continuing its support for the Space Frontier Foundations annual Business Plan Competition by funding this years awards totaling $110,000. The Space Frontier Foundation Business Plan Competition will be held during a three-day event at NASA Ames in July. The NASA supported Emerging Space Grand Prize will include an award of $100,000 for the best business plan with the potential to contribute to space development. NASA also is supporting a second prize of $10,000."

National Research Council Report Identifies and Prioritizes Key Technologies for NASA

"In 2010 NASA created 14 draft technology roadmaps to help guide and prepare for the agency's future space exploration and mission needs. Using these draft roadmaps as a point of departure, a new National Research Council report, NASA SPACE TECHNOLOGY ROADMAPS AND PRIORITIES: RESTORING NASA'S TECHNOLOGICAL EDGE AND PAVING THE WAY FOR A NEW ERA IN SPACE, identifies and prioritizes key technologies needed for NASA to make advances in earth and space sciences. It also details how the effectiveness of the technology development program can be enhanced in the face of scarce resources."

State Department: "Space Security - An American Perspective"

"Space is no longer an environment accessed nearly exclusively by two superpowers or a few countries. Barriers to entry are lower than ever, and many countries are enjoying access to and the benefits of space in unprecedented numbers. Today, space is the domain of a growing number of satellite operators; approximately 60 nations and government consortia operate satellites, as well as numerous commercial and academic satellite operators. Paradoxically, while it is becoming increasingly easier to access as well as to benefit from space, space is also becoming increasingly congested and contested. This situation means we need to think carefully through how we can all operate there safely and responsibly. Our goal is to ensure that the generations that follow us can also benefit from the advantages that space offers."

Gingrich: Terrible President on Earth, Great One in Space, opinion, Huffington Post

"Take just about any issue on Earth and I disagree vehemently with Newt Gingrich's policy position. His disingenuous expressions of anti-elitimism infuriate me daily, and his runaway hypocrisy embodies everything that's wrong with the political process. But the man said he was going to build a moon base, and for that, he's just about got my vote."

Tea Party in Space Endorses Gingrich for President

"Mr. Gingrich's bold announcement of a moon base by 2020 is not unrealistic like some would have Americans believe," Gasser continued. "Newt brings the kind of leadership lacking at NASA while the other candidates want to continue the status quo. This isn't the 1960s and 70s where 'only NASA' could build rockets and space stations. Today the private sector has more than proven that if you remove the shackles of government bureaucracy, American ingenuity will flourish."

Keith's 25 Jan note: No mention of these tech transfer opportunities at NASA OCT. No mention at LaRC Technology Gateway (but they mention LENR/cold fusion), No mention at NASA TechBriefs. Unless one reads the Federal Register, all of these nifty NASA spinoffs and discoveries just go unnoticed.

Keith's 31 Jan update: Hey, there's more spinoff goodness coming out of LaRC - but NASA still doesn't seem to want to promote it - other than burying it in the Federal Register. Go figure.

- NASA Technology Transfer Opportunity: High Performance High Temperature Resins for Dielectric Films, Coatings, Composites, Adhesives and Solid Parts
- NASA Technology Transfer Opportunity: Zone Zeroing Out Negative Effects - Biofeedback training for Optimal Athletic Performance
- NASA Technology Transfer Opportunity: A Byzantine Fault Tolerant

Final Call to Register and Win Suborbital Research Flight at Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, XCOR Aerospace

"XCOR Aerospace and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) announce the final week to register and become eligible to win a suborbital research flight on XCOR's Lynx I vehicle at the Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC-2012) in Palo Alto, CA on February 27-29. The deadline for early conference registration and for entering the drawing is the 10th of February at nsrc.swri.org."

NASA Releases First Multi-Player Facebook Game, NASA

"NASA has launched its first multi-player online game to test players' knowledge of the space program. Who was the first American to walk in space? Who launched the first liquid-fueled rocket? These are only a few of the questions players can answer in Space Race Blastoff."

NASA GSFC Center Director Rob Strain Announces Plans to Leave

"It is with mixed emotions that I announce my intention to leave NASA Goddard and return to industry. My last day as Director will be March 4. During my time here, it has been my privilege to play a small role in our awesome missions, remarkable science, complex engineering feats, and initiatives. Goddard continues to amaze me with the extraordinary accomplishments its people make every day."

Goddard Center Director Robert Strain Announces Departure from Agency, NASA Goddard

"NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Director Robert Strain announced he will leave the agency on March 4, 2012, to take a position in private industry."

Expensive NASA rocket draws skepticism, Houston Chronicle

"As engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama begin designing a rocket that would eventually be capable of blasting 130 metric tons into orbit, many spaceflight experts are questioning why NASA chose what could be the most expensive and riskiest approach to expanding the human spaceflight program beyond low-Earth orbit. "I'm very skeptical about the heavy-lift rocket," said Chris Kraft, NASA's first manned spaceflight director and the director of flight operations during the Apollo 11 mission."

Matt Reed: Newt's awesome space plan shields a bad candidate, Florida Today

"How Gingrich led the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998 for lying about an affair -- even as Gingrich had cheated on his wife for six years. I despised Gingrich by the time he took the stage in Cocoa on Wednesday. Then, Newt seduced me with one of the best speeches on space I've ever heard."

A colony on the moon? Gingrich finds risks and rewards in backyard politics, AP

"No issue better illustrates the risks and rewards of backyard politics than Florida's space industry. Gingrich ignited the discussion by making a bold declaration at a packed rally last week in Cocoa, about 20 miles from the Kennedy Space Center. "By the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the moon, and it will be American," he said before being interrupted by applause."

Leaders In America's Space Program Write Open Letter In Support Of Mitt Romney, Houston Chronicle

"As president, Mitt Romney will facilitate close collaboration not only within the government's civil and national security space sectors, but also with the private sector and with research institutions. He will create conditions for a strong and competitive commercial space industry that can contribute greatly to our national capabilities and goals. And he will ensure that NASA returns its focus to the project of manned space exploration that uniquely affirms American strength and values around the globe. Under his leadership, America will once again lead the world in space."

Keith's note: 24 Hours after the Florida primary votes are in, you will likely hear little - if anything - about space from these candidates ever again.

Mitt Romney would have fired Mike Griffin: Is Romney Already Being Trapped By Unsustainable Space Interests?, Space Frontier Foundation

"During last night's Republican presidential debate, Governor Mitt Romney stated that "a moonbase would be an enormous expense," and later stated that if someone had come to him saying they had wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, he would've said "You're fired." Today, it was revealed that former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is member of the Romney Space Policy Advisory Group. This is the same NASA Administrator who was the chief architect of an unaffordable and unsustainable plan to return humans to the Moon that would have cost about $200 Billion."

Former NASA chief Mike Griffin backs Mitt Romney for president, Houston Chronicle

"GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney won the endorsement of former NASA administrator Mike Griffin on Friday, days before voters in Florida and along the famed Space Coast cast their ballots in the hotly contested GOP presidential primary."

Last man on moon, other space leaders backing Romney, MSNBC

"Players in the commercial space industry, including Eric Anderson, chairman and chief executive officer of space tourism firm Space Adventures; and Mark Albrecht, chairman of the board of satellite communications provider USSpace, also signed the letter. Other signers include Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University (who also serves as chairman of the Romney Space Policy Advisory Group); Peter Marquez, former director of space policy for the National Security Council; and William Martel, professor of International Security Studies at Tufts University."

Romney Mocks Gingrich's Plans For Moon Base, CBS

"Gingrich promised that "By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American." Gingrich, the former House speaker, told an overflowing crowd gathered on Florida's space coast Wednesday that he wants to develop a robust commercial space industry in line with the airline boom of the 1930s. He also wants to expand exploration of Mars."

Gingrich jab at debate moderator deflected, Reuters

"One of Romney's biggest applause lines was saying that Gingrich has a pattern of pandering to local audiences - promising a new Veterans Administration hospital in New Hampshire a few weeks ago and a moon colony on Wednesday when he visited Florida's Space Coast. "I spent 25 years in business," Romney said. "If I had a business executive come to me and say they wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I'd say, 'You're fired.'"