Florida Senate - 2010                                    SM 1878
       
       
       
       By Senator Altman
       
       
       
       
       24-00663-10                                           20101878__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         urging Congress to fully support the space program and
    4         recognize the significance of research related to
    5         human space flight.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, the Space Shuttle program is scheduled to end in
    8  the near future, and
    9         WHEREAS, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
   10  is beginning the transition to new launch systems that enable
   11  humans to explore beyond low earth orbit, and
   12         WHEREAS, NASA and the White House Office of Science and
   13  Technology Policy established the Review of U.S. Human Space
   14  Flight Plans Committee to review the progress and status of the
   15  national human space exploration mission and the programs and
   16  systems being developed to enable human space exploration, and
   17         WHEREAS, the committee found that human space exploration
   18  can drive technology innovation, develop commercial industries
   19  and national capabilities, demonstrate international leadership
   20  and contribute to scientific knowledge, inspire the next
   21  generation, and chart a path for human expansion into the solar
   22  system, and
   23         WHEREAS, the committee found that human exploration beyond
   24  low earth orbit is not viable under the current federal budget
   25  guidelines and that additional annual funding for human space
   26  exploration is necessary in order to establish a meaningful
   27  program, and
   28         WHEREAS, the committee found that NASA’s budget should
   29  match its mission and goals, and that NASA should be given the
   30  ability to shape its organization and infrastructure
   31  accordingly, while maintaining facilities of national
   32  importance, and
   33         WHEREAS, the current budget will result in a significant
   34  gap in U.S. human space flight capabilities, which may result in
   35  the loss of critical national capabilities of workforce
   36  experience and the aerospace industrial base, and
   37         WHEREAS, the State of Florida has invested $27 million in
   38  the Space Life Sciences Lab at the Kennedy Space Center to
   39  promote life sciences research, and
   40         WHEREAS, it is in the national interest to establish a
   41  robust and sustainable program of human space exploration, NOW,
   42  THEREFORE,
   43  
   44  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   45  
   46         That the Congress of the United States is requested to:
   47         (1) Increase the level of NASA’s budget to a level
   48  sufficient to enable the development of exploration systems and
   49  vehicles, operate the International Space Station through 2020,
   50  and reduce the gap in U.S. human space flight;
   51         (2) Support the life sciences research necessary for long
   52  term human space flight beyond low earth orbit;
   53         (3) Direct appropriate work and programs to utilize
   54  Florida’s unique workforce skills and aerospace facilities to
   55  preserve and enhance national space launch capability; and
   56         (4) Support the increased utilization and sustainable
   57  development of federal and state spaceports as national
   58  resources supporting commercial enterprises and research and
   59  technology development.
   60         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   61  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   62  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   63  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   64  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.