#SpaceCoast #NASA #Space The front page of #FloridaToday 13 years ago today. The lead story was a "space forum" the night before where locals bashed President #Obama for the end of Shuttle, even though it was Bush who cancelled it seven years before with the approval of Congress. (1/x)
Obama proposed increasing NASA's budget by $6B over 5 years, relying on "NewSpace" commercial enterprises to lower costs and improve efficiencies. The locals hated it, because it meant an end to the gravy train of guaranteed "OldSpace" jobs that paid a lot for infrequent work. (2/x)
Yesterday a #SpaceX Falcon 9 launched and landed here for its 13th time. Tomorrow #RelativitySpace will attempt to launch from here its 3D-printed rocket using liquid methane as a fuel instead of the popular polluting RP1.
This is possible because Obama got the OldSpace/government cronyism out of the way and let commercial enterprise do what it does best. (3/x)
The "space forum" from 13 years ago is on YouTube at this link. It's eye-opening to see all the hysteria being whipped up, especially by former Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Merritt Island) who was exploiting the event for partisan purposes. (4/4)