UPDATE: Hardball Politics Coming into Play for NASA's New Exploration Plan?

UPDATE: President Obama and Senator Nelson had an “excellent conversation” according to Florida Today, quoting the Senator, who also said that “we’ll see the fruits of that conversation” on April 15 when the President holds a space conference in Florida.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) tweeted today that he was “Headed to Oval Office for meeting with the president about America’s space program. Lots of folks unhappy with newly released plan for NASA.” Senator Nelson will chair a hearing on Thursday at 2:30 pm (see our calendar on the right menu) on the state of the commercial space industry. He has been sharply critical of the way the new plan was rolled out because, he says, it gave the impression that the President was killing the human space flight program. President Obama will be holding a “space conference” in Florida on April 15 to elucidate what he has in mind for NASA.

At the same time, the Orlando Sentinel reported today that Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL), who represents a district near Kennedy Space Center, was invited to the White House last week so the President could coax her into voting in favor of the health care reform bill, but “she frequently pivoted the conversation to NASA,” and has not yet made up her mind on how to vote. The Houston Chronicle reports that the mayor of Houston, Annise Parker, also is on her way to pressure the President.