Why is Alabama getting the Space Center?

[The Backlash Cometh]

It makes no sense. Didn't Alabama provide the Red for the Republican Party?

[SoCalDem]

1. NASA's been in Alabama for years.. n/t

[hedgehog]

4. That's my guess - why force people to relocate?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. Huntsville = NASA

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. But it sounds like they're dismantling the Kennedy Space Ctr.

And that Alabama is going to get the overflow.

[NC_Nurse]

2. Because it's the Final Frontier?

:P

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. LOL!

You the best. If there are any DUzy judges around, let's hope they're Star Trek fans.

[Taverner]

3. Shhhh - we convinced them it was a missionary trip to the aliens

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. Nasa is big in Huntsville, Alabama . n/t

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. See, that is the reall difference in GOP and Dems

The GOP would punish an area that was not "for" them

but the Dems looked at reality...




infrastructure costs mostly, I would guess... the space people are already there in the area

[onenote]

23. Huntsville has been represented by Democrats for the last 110 years

[bluestateguy]

7. Clinton punished Dick Shelby's insolence in 1993 by moving a space program from Alabama to Houston

That option needs to be on the table. I say close it all down in Alabama and move everything to electoral vote rich Texas and Florida.

[Captain Hilts]

9. That was cool. Like Nixon closing the Boston Navy Yard. nt

[jobycom]

8. Space Camp.

It's all about Space Camp.

[jody]

10. Aren't there five space centers, see below? I don't understand your point.

* Goddard Space Flight Center
* Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
* Kennedy Space Center
* Marshall Space Flight Center
* John C. Stennis Space Center

[bananas]

12. Maybe he's talking about this: Kennedy Space Center might lose thousands of jobs to Huntsville

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-ksc-nasa-huntsville-workers-030409,0,429110.story

Kennedy Space Center might lose thousands of jobs to Huntsville
Robert Block, Aaron Deslatte and Mark K. Matthews | Sentinel Staff Writers
March 4, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Aerospace-industry leaders plan to tell Florida legislators today that unless some miracle takes place to breathe new life into the space business at Cape Canaveral, the state's most skilled workers will almost certainly be leaving in droves to take jobs in Alabama.

Thousands of top engineers are needed by 2011 at the Missile Defense Agency, an arm of the Pentagon in charge of developing an integrated U.S. missile-defense system for the country. The agency is moving its operations from its current home in northern Virginia to Huntsville, Ala.

Already NASA's shuttle contractor, United Space Alliance, is negotiating with the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce to find work for many space-shuttle engineers when the shuttle program ends 18 months from now.

The brain drain will be a huge blow to Florida and especially Brevard County, which is already braced for the hardship that the end of the shuttle program will bring to the area. At least 3,500 workers at Kennedy Space Center are in line to lose their jobs by the end of next year.

<snip>

[jody]

17. Thanks. Things are tough all over. n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. They're dismantling the Kennedy Space Center.

Everything is old, I hear. And they were suppose to upgrade, but, managers thought the money would come in after they did the dismantling. Now that it's happening, there's no money to rebuild right away. That's what I've been told.

[bridgit]

13. They've been home to that stuff since we spirited Von Braun & his merry Nazi rocketeers over here

[DKRC]

14. 50 years in 2008

In 1961, when President John F. Kennedy envisioned an American on the moon by the end of the decade,NASA turned to Marshall Space Flight Center to create the incredibly powerful rocket needed to turn this presidential vision into reality. Today, NASA is working on America’s new space vision -- return to the moon and stay. Once again, NASA has turned to the experts at Marshall for an even more powerful rocket that will fulfill the new vision -- establishing a lunar outpost -- and will succeed the space shuttle as America's only way to deliver people into Earth orbit and into space.

Since its beginning in 1960, Marshall has provided the agency with mission-critical design, development and integration of the launch and space systems required for space operations, exploration, and scientific missions. Marshall's legacy in rocket science includes providing the rockets that powered Americans to the moon, developing the space shuttle propulsion system, and managing the development of Skylab, Spacelab, space station nodes, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and many scientific instruments.

Marshall's unique interdisciplinary approach to problem solving brings scientific and engineering expertise together, providing answers that improve life on Earth, inspire a new generation, and stimulate innovation for the future of space exploration.

The Marshall Space Flight Center History Office provides a wealth of information about the history of the center. Visit the history office online, and you will find information about the early years of rocket power from the Redstone Rocket to the Saturn V, 20 years of space shuttle operations, and exciting scientific discoveries.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/index.html

[greenkal]

15. Are they being rewarded for their racism

and ignorance? That's what it looks like.

[onenote]

24. it only looks like that to someone who hasn't a clue

Huntsville AL has elected Democrats to Congress for the past 110 years. Maybe they aren't the most progressive Democrats, but they're Democrats.

[readmoreoften]

16. Maybe because it will promote the sciences and become a hedge against creationism?

:shrug:

I'm all for it.

[MadHound]

18. Because Obama isn't a partisan hack who bases every decision on how a state voted n/t

[onenote]

21. Democrats have represented Huntsville for the last 100 years

5th Congressional District. Maybe not the most progressive Democrats, but Democrats nonetheless.