By Andrew W. Griffin

Red Dirt Report, editor

Posted: January 24, 2012

reddirtreporter@gmail.com

OKLAHOMA CITY – Three months after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave Red Dirt Report a fairly incoherent answer about his position on NASA and America’s future in space exploration, he and Newt Gingrich addressed this important topic during a televised debate Monday night in Tampa, Florida.

As we wrote on October 21, 2011: “Although he jokingly scolded Red Dirt Report for asking a question when called upon – reminding the media that questions at this point were only for folks in the audience – Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney reluctantly answered a question for this reporter regarding his position on boosting NASA and America’s role in space exploration.

Saying he believed in a strong science and technology sector, Romney said “NASA plays a role in an investment in science.”

And beefing up our science and technology efforts is key in our keenly competitive world, going off on a bit of a tangent regarding the research efforts of the National Institutes of Health.

But further discussion of how we compete with other space-faring nations like Russia, China and India was not addressed.”

But for those of us who endured the exhausting “Mitt & Newt Show” last night, it was encouraging that the two candidates recognize the importance of a strong space program. Sadly, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum were not allowed to offer their thoughts on NASA and America’s space program. It would appear that elite media types like moderator Brian Williams and NBC don't want Paul, particularly, to address the American people on a topic like this. Santorum? If it's not about abortion, gays or bombing Iran, he doesn't seem to care all that much.

Of course this being Florida, where NASA is important, Romney and Gingrich were playing to the important Space Coast vote. Both men are craven politicians, so that comes as no shock. And with "big idea," "Rockefeller Republican" Gingrich, I suspect his JFK-esque pursuits are more heartfelt than Romney. After all, Gingrich announced a few days ago that he would be offering a "visionary speech" on space planned for Wednesday, while in Florida. It couldn't come at a better time, considering President Obama's pathetic approach to space exploration - he cut NASA's exciting Constellation program - as we watch the aged Space Shuttle program mothballed and other nations looking towards the stars in a serious way.

Romney suggested creating a coalition of the military, academia, the business community, and, of course, the president, to help with NASA’s vision of the future.

“Have a mission, once again excite our young people about the potential of space, and the commercial potential will pay for itself down the road,” Romney said.

Gingrich said he liked the idea of “prizes” which would be awarded to the private sector while getting NASA to be “leaner.” These “prizes,” suggested Gingrich, could create a romantic and exciting future for the space program.

Gingrich also wants to get Americans returning to the Moon, something we have addressed recently, and to explore Mars and “develop extraterrestrial space exploration.” We certainly encourage the Moon visits, something the Chinese intend to pursue, and muscular exploration of Mars and its "potato-shaped" moon Phobos, a peculiar moonlet that the Russians are particularly interested in, despite the failure of Phobos-Grunt.

In our column on the Iowa “Full Moon Debate” titled “Newt, Mitt, Moon,” Gingrich was taking a firmer stance on space exploration, while Romney’s commitment was tepid at best, as I wrote: “It's high time we plan to send Earth astronauts from all corners of the globe out into the Universe. Perhaps if we came together as a human race, peace could be achieved. Why can't Mitt Romney see how cool of an idea that is? Again, I'm no Newt Gingrich fan. I find him pretty loathsome, in fact. But his space exploration and lunar colonization ideas actually have me pretty excited. Because if Newt is talking about these things, plenty of other well-positioned people are as well.”

Earlier this month, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin wrote a column for The Huffington Post where he wrote: “In short, 2012 is an inflection year – the year we will and must decide whether the U.S. has the will and ability to lead the world in human space exploration. For me, I am betting we do ..”

Whether or not you believe Aldrin & co. actually set foot on Luna shouldn't matter. Aldrin has a forum to promote space exploration. Just look at his enthusiasm about going to the Moon and Mars. Remember this stunning nugget Aldrin shared on C-SPAN a few years ago? Wow!

And last year, your Red Dirt Reporter wrote a column title “Humanity’s destiny lies in ‘the final frontier.’” While I’ve talked to people who are open to ideas of expanding space exploration, they are understandably concerned about more down-to-earth issues facing Americans.

Copyright 2012 West Marie Media