Two "Yes" Votes for NASA's New Plan

Yesterday we posted an article pointing out two op-ed pieces by Republican or Republican-leaning commentators opposing President Obama’s new plan for NASA. Two other Republicans — former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former chairman of the House Science Committee, Bob Walker — published a joint op-ed in the Washington Times supporting the plan. Considering how rarely Republicans praise anything the Democrats do these days, the op-ed is especially noteworthy.

Mr. Walker, who chaired the 2002 Commision on the Future of the Aerospace Industry, cited that commision, a 2004 commission chaired by former Secretary of the Air Force Pete Aldridge, and the 2009 Augustine committee as all recommending greater reliance on the private sector for space activities and criticized NASA for ignoring that advice until now. Mr. Gingrich is identified in the op-ed as being a member of the Board of Governors of the National Space Society (NSS). The NSS came out in opposition to President Obama’s plan to terminate the Constellation program last week, although what it wants is restoration of NASA’s plans to send humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). As for whether human transportation to and from LEO should be turned over to the private sector, the main theme of the Gingrich/Walker op-ed, NSS said it makes sense once the commercial services “have been demonstrated to be safe.”