| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
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| 409.1 | RE 409.0 | AUTHOR::KLAES | Through the land of Mercia... | Fri Mar 11 1988 11:42 | 4 |
| See SPACE Topic 328, especially Note 328.2.
Larry
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| 409.2 | Let our Government know we want a space program! | MTWAIN::KLAES | Know Future | Mon Jul 18 1988 10:34 | 67 |
| Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: The Space Program
Posted: 13 Jul 88 22:57:55 GMT
This being my inaugural message on the SPACE digest, I decided to
address two points of concern to me, one very important, the other not so.
I recently returned from Washington, DC, where I spent six weeks
working for a senator. Naturally, I was working in the
space/technology pod, where I was intent on doing everything in my
power to sway any of my senator's votes that had anything to do with
space. There were, however, a few major problems:
Nobody gives a damn.
To be more precise, in the six weeks I was there, the office
received ONLY ONE PIECE OF MAIL asking the the space program be fully
funded. ONE PIECE! Compare this with well over 450 in just a couple
of weeks concerning the INF treaty, or the dozens that came in with
great regularity concerning waste and fraud in our Defense Department
(prior to the FBI investigation, that is!). A senator will not listen
to just one piece of mail; he can't afford to. If everyone out there
who is serious about the space program were to send two letters to
each of their senators, and a letter to each of their representatives,
we might see some more discussion among the senators about money for
the space program.
The space program is difficult for a senator to justify
politically. Tangible benefits are difficult to clarify, and
"manifest destiny" just don't cut a 10.8 billion dollar budget, no
matter what. When I went to Washington, I was very gung-ho about the
space program, especially the MANNED space program, but now I'm not so
sure. The money for the space program has to come from somewhere, be
it Veteran's benefits, defense, social programs, or wherever. Unless
those who support the space program are able to instill their own
long-range vision upon those who are responsible for dividing the
money, we are going to be trapped on this planet for a long time.
Right now the space program is more of a political tool then a
scientific one. Very important decisions are being made by managers
and administrators instead of scientists. These trends must change,
or the people who understand space so well will dig their own
graves...on Earth.
You will notice that I have not mentioned NASA once in this
digression. I hesitate to discuss NASA's predicament because the
issue is so clouded that I find myself unable to divine what course we
should take. NASA's mission is to explore and take advantage of the
resources space offers us. Is manned space flight, a very significant
portion of the NASA budget, important enough to consume the money it does?
These are important questions that every one of us on this net
should be asking ourselves. Talk is talk, and talk is cheap. I find
the discussion of launch loops and skintight spacesuits fascinating,
but I was forced to experience the real world for a few weeks, and I
regret it.
Space is indeed the place, and it is the responsibility of those
who understand that to see that it happens, be it for my generation or
my children's. Less then 400 human beings (as I recall) have escaped
this planet's atmosphere...and I want to join the list.
David Birnbaum [email protected]
Programmer, Small Systems [email protected]
New Mexico State University <-- They pay my bills, but they don't
Las Cruces, New Mexico USA write my opinions....
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| 409.3 | NASA's Letter Writing Contest to the politicians | MTWAIN::KLAES | Know Future | Mon Jul 18 1988 10:35 | 45 |
| Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Space-support contest
Posted: 14 Jul 88 16:01:55 GMT
Organization: The Internet
The new (July/Aug) issue of NASA Tech Briefs just came in today's
mail and it has an announcement of a contest SPACE readers might want
to participate in:
Deadline: August 31, 1988
Rules: Write a letter to the politician of your choice, outlining
your reasons for asking him or her to support NASA and the civil space
program. Then send a copy of the letter, with your phone number, to
the attention of Bill Schnirring at the following address:
NASA Tech Briefs
Letter Writing Contest
41 East 42nd St., Suite 921
New York, NY 10017
Note: The accompanying text states the letters will be judged by
their editorial board, and the winning letters will be published in
their October issue. All letter writers will have their names listed
in their "Honor Roll", published in that same issue. They plan to
send copies of *each* letter submitted to *every* Congressman.
Prizes: First prize is a tuition-free stay at the US Space Camp,
choice of the 3-day adult camp at Huntsville, Alabama, or sending a
child to a week-long camp in either Huntsville or Florida. Second
prize is a complete set of NTB:BASE, a PC-compatible database of NASA
technology. Five runners-up will each receive one NTB:BASE category.
All entrants will get a certificate of recognition.
In case you want to look this up, the info is on pages 14-15 of
the July/August 1988 issue of NASA Tech Briefs.
Regards, Will Martin
PS - To those whose view of "supporting the civil space program"
does NOT include supporting NASA, but instead pushing private space
development, I suppose you could still enter by carefully wording your
letter to avoid mentioning NASA. I doubt they'll choose such letters
to win, though! Their interest is NASA-oriented, after all. WM
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| 409.4 | How to approach Congressmen with the issues | MTWAIN::KLAES | Saturn by 1970 | Thu Oct 13 1988 15:18 | 82 |
| Newsgroups: sci.space
Path: decwrl!ucbvax!BRANDEIS.BITNET!WALL
Subject: Re: Congresspersons' mail
Posted: 11 Oct 88 17:38:00 GMT
Organization: The Internet
Regarding the discussion of what sort of letters your
Congresspersons will or will not read, let me offer an informed
response. I worked as a congressperson's assistant, and for an
extremely conscientious and informed congressman, relative to the
breed as a whole (or even absolutely.) Despite the alleged apathy of
most citizens, congress people get such a high volume of mail, form
mail or otherwise, that individual responses composed just for your
inquiry are extremely rare. Also, staff members working on
legislative projects tend to focus more on actual work than on
clarifying their boss' opinions to the masses, whereas staff members
working directly with the public have to concentrate on casework
(`social security lost my check and claim I owe them $100,000') since
that sort of inquiry requires an individual response.
The thing that matters most is whether you're from the particular
district in mind; mail outside the representative's district, form
mail or otherwise, will probably get a form response. Secondly, mass
mailings and a thoughtfully written, individual letter on a broad
subject area are treated the same way; they are tallied, reported on a
regular basis to the congressperson in question, and responded to with
a general letter stating the representative's position on the subject
and perhaps going into a few specifics about current legislation or
including a Congressional Record reprint.
The best way to get an individual response (again, in 98% of the
cases, this will still be prepared by a staff member, but by a staff
member in a position to influence the congress person) is to write an
inquiry about a specific, current piece of legislation, asking for a
specific position from the representative, and clearly stating your
reasons for supporting/opposing the bill. The more thoughtfully-reasoned
and the less flaming in the letter, the more likely it is to be read by
the boss. Clever analogies and examples, and good one-liners also help your
chances of having your letter read. Letters of two pages or less are more
likely to be read and responded to individually. Relating the issue in
question to the livelihood of the district is another good way of getting
attention. Obvious cases of self-interest should be acknowledged in the
letter and explained, so you are not dismissed as ``of course this person
supports such and such, they're getting something out of it.''
Finally, if you truly want to make sure you get to influence the
legislator directly, request an appointment. The majority of
representatives had have regular office hours in their district, and
if you have a reasonable topic to discuss and any sort of credential
in the area (even ``concerned citizen'') and are not in a position
that could be construed as beholden to a special interest (like, your
job is Public Information Director for a major defense contractor),
then more likely than not you can get a 20 min. - 1 hour appointment
within a few months. Avoid flaming about other subject matters, and
do homework about your congressman's background and his or her special
areas of interest. If you can thus separate yourself from the various
whackos and ideologues who haunt a congressperson's public life, it's
actually quite easy to influence public policy in a meaningful way.
Caveat: As in all areas, some of these folks are better at
listening than others. An organized campaign that threatens the loss
of votes in the next election is more likely to be effective for those
legislators who don't care to actually talk to their constituents.
Again, do some homework first.
Representatives are more likely to respond personally than
Senators; it's more likely to get a hold of a real person when
congress is not in session; don't bother the four months before
election day in an election year.
Sorry about the length of this, but I thought a little practical
advice was in order for the potentially politically active after
reading various flames.
Matt Wall
Brandeis University
"It is so difficult to find the beginning. Or, better, it is
difficult to begin at the beginning. And not try to go further back."
- Wittgentstein
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| 409.5 | SPACECAUSE | MTWAIN::KLAES | N = R*fgfpneflfifaL | Tue Feb 28 1989 12:24 | 69 |
| Newsgroups: sci.space
Path: decwrl!ucbvax!ucsd!sdcsvax!beowulf!riley
Subject: NASA's budget and addresses
Posted: 27 Feb 89 06:27:42 GMT
Organization: EE/CS Dept. U.C. San Diego
From the desk of James Beggs, Former Administrator of NASA
Dear Space Enthusiast,
The Soviets will soon totally dominate us in space, unless we move
our space program forward aggressively. They have had a space station
in orbit since 1982. Ours will not be available until 1996, at the
earliest. In the last year before the Challenger space shuttle
disaster, the Soviets launched 97 rockets compared to our 17.
The Japanese and Europeans understand the importance of space and
are rapidly closing the gap between them and us.
How did we get ourselves into this sorry situation? In the late
1960s the NASA budget was almost 1% of our GNP. Today it is less than
1/4 of 1%.
Despite this situation, I would not be writing this letter to you
if it were not for the fact that Congressional pressure on this year's
NASA budget is particularly severe. Budget reductions are almost
certain. The Space Station program, in particular, may be gutted.
The deficit situation is forcing each of the special interest
groups to mobilize all of its political constituency. The competition
for every federal dollar is fierce. The NASA budget has done poorly
in similar situations in the past, primarily because its supporters
among the public have not been organized.
This time, let us do things differently. SPACECAUSE--the new
lobbying organization for the grassroots space constituency--is
mounting a major effort to save the NASA budget in general and the
space station in particular.
I urge you to write a letter (or send a mailgram) to each of four
key members of Congress: Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia,
Washington D.C. 20510-4801; Senator Jake Garn of Utah, Washington
D.C.20510-4401; Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Washington D.C.
20510-2003; and Congressman Robert Traxler of Michigan, Washington
D.C. 20515-2208. All of these, except for Garn, are Democrats.
Letters should be less than one page and need not be typed.
Essentially the same letter can be sent to all four. After you have
done this, please call ten of your friends and have them do the same
and then have each of them call ten of their friends, etc.
In Congress, we face an unusual situation. The three members who
are likely to be the most influential on space issues--all of whom are
among the four that I have asked you to write--are new to their
positions. Impressing them with the strength of the public support
for the space program will pay high dividends for years to come. Your
letters are key to accomplishing this.
[a bit about what letters can do and money for their group can do
left out.]
Signed by James Beggs
--------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the
support of Paul." - George Bernard Shaw
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Riley
[email protected]
|
| 409.6 | Support the CRAF and CASSINI planetary missions | RENOIR::KLAES | N = R*fgfpneflfifaL | Fri Jun 23 1989 18:13 | 170 |
| From: [email protected] (Steve Abrams)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: NSS/SpaceCause Legislative Alert
Date: 23 Jun 89 15:39:50 GMT
Organization: The Internet
Pt. 1 - CRAF-Cassini
FROM SPACECAUSE (Promoting Space Development Through Legislative Actions):
Dear Supporter:
Because of the critical importance of this legislative year to the
space program, a united effort is being made, to support the NASA
budget as a whole and the new start on CRAF-Cassini -- which involves
a comet rendezvous, asteroid fly-bys, a Saturn orbiter and an entry
probe into the organic clouds of Titan down to its unexplored surface.
The NASA budget is currently under close scrutiny in Congress. CRAF-Cassini
is the first truly post-Apollo new start of a planetary mission, along
with the Magellan mission to Venus.
The National Space Society's family of organizations and The
Planetary Society are joining together in this effort. Both
organizations are recommending that their supporters contact
appropriate members of Congress to authorize CRAF-Cassini along with
the requested NASA budget.
We urge you to read the enclosed.
Cordially,
(signature)
Carl Sagan
President, The Planetary Society
Charles Walker
President, National Space Society
Dear SpaceCause or SpacePAC contributor or National Space Society member,
The strategy of Spacecause is to politically organize those who
are already pro-space. The same techniques which have made other
movements powerful can also make the space movement powerful. In this
context, the preceeding letter of agreement between The Planetary
Society and the National Space SocietyUs family of organizations
(SpaceCause, SpacePAC, and NSS) is a milestone. This agreement was
originally suggested by Lori Garver, NSS Executive Director. It was
negotiated by Louis Friedman, Executive Director of the Planetary
Society and myself and was ultimately signed by Carl Sagan and Charles
Walker. Cooperation is the most effective way for the space movement
to make progress.
Support for the NASA budget is particularly important this year
because of the intimate relationship between the budget and the Space
Station program. NASA has publicly stated that if its budget is cut
by the $600-800 million or more, the agency will recommend that the
program be terminated. According to former NASA Administrator James
Beggs, such a reduction is looming for the agency. The letter from
Charles Walker which follows in this package explains in terms of our
goals why the Space Station is the top priority short-term legislative
goal of SpaceCause and the National Space Society. The CRAF-Cassini
mission is important to science and to our goal of creating a space-faring
civilization that will establish communities beyond the Earth. It will
chart valuable resources like asteroidal minerals and cometary ice that
may be of considerable importance to the industrialization of space and
to the development of space settlements.
The mission has two components, CRAF and Cassini, which use
separate spacecraft. The Mariner II spacecraft bus is to be developed
and used for both components. This type of bus - a considerable
advance over existing technology - is also expected to be used for
other probes.
CRAF (Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Fly-by) will pass by an asteroid
(449 Hamburga, an 88-km diameter carbonaceous body) for observation on
its way to rendezvous with Comet Kopff. CRAF will fly alongside Kopff
for almost three years, observing the cometUs behavior and analyzing
its composition.
Cassini will carry an orbiter and probe that will explore Saturn's
moon Titan. The probe will carry instruments to analyze the
atmosphere of Titan as the probe parachutes to the surface and will
continue to radio reports from the surface after landing. The orbiter
will image the surface of Titan, creating radar maps with 200 meter
resolution. The orbiter will also explore SaturnUs other moons and
its rings.
It is very difficult for new starts, like CRAF-Cassini to survive
when the NASA budget is severely cut. We need your help to save the
Space Station and CRAF-Cassini. There are two key upcoming votes
which will probably decide the issue. The first will occur in
congressman Bob Trazler's House Appropriations sub-committee which
deals with NASA. We shall contact you about the second later.
The Traxler vote is imminent, which is why this letter is being
mailed first-class instead of at the less-expensive and slower
non-profit rate. We need everyone to telephone Congressman Bob
Traxler during Washington business hours (letters may not arrive in
time). His direct number is (202)225-2806. In addition, please call
those, if any, of the following members of Traxler's subcommittee that
are from your state: Louis Stokes (D-OH), Lindy Boggs (D-LA), Allan
Mollohan (D-WV), Jim Chapman (D-TX), Chester Atkins (D-MA), Lawrence
Coughlin (R-PA), Bill Green (R-NY), and Jerry Lewis (R-CA). Any
member of Congress cna be reached by calling (202)224-3121 and asking
for the member in question.
Ask for full funding for NASA and in particular for the Space
Station. Also mention CRAF-Cassini as a secondary issue. At the time
I am writing this, it is not known when Traxler's subcommittee will
vote. The best strategy is to call as soon as you receive this
letter. Up-to-date information can be obtained by calling the Space
Hotline at (202)543-1995. After you call, ask your friends to do the
same. Then help us out by sending a financial contribution to
SPACECAUSE -- these grassroots mailings cost money, and can be
continued only with the support of space advocates like yourself.
The next century can be the century in which America leads
humanity into space to live and work. It will be an adventure without
parallel in human history -- grander than the great age of Earth
exploration and settlement that started several hundred years ago and
has only ended in this century. For the adventure to take place,
though, those of us with vision must work to overcome shortsightedness
and ignorance here on Earth. Please help.
Sincerely yours,
(signature)
Mark M. Hopkins
President, Spacecause
Dear Space Supporter,
The fundamental, long-term goal of Spacecause and the National
Space Society is to create a space-faring civilization that will
establish communities beyond the Earth. A permanently manned space
station is required to meet this goal.
If we are serious about opening the space frontier, we must gain
long-term experience with living and working in space. We must have
a platform for extensive biological and medical research of the
effects of low and variable gravity on living things. This vital
research cannot be done on Earth. Nor can it be done on a man-tended
platform. Only a permanently-manned space station, such as Space
Station Freedom, capable of providing continuous life support, will
meet the need.
We must have a staging base for the efforts to expand permanent
human presence beyond low Earth orbit. A major spaceport is required
to support exploration and development, first of the Moon, and
ultimately of the inner solar system. Freedom Station is but the
first step in human expansion into space; but it is also a critical
first step. There will be no return to the Moon in the foreseeable
future without Freedom Station.
It is for these reasons that Freedom Station is the top priority
short-term legislative goal of Spacecause and the National Space
Society. we need new starts like CRAF-Cassini to help identify
resources and chart our future course. But exploration is only the
beginning. For the permanent occupancy of space, we need Freedom Station.
I urge each of you to write or call members of Congress in
accordance witht he instructions in the accompanying materials. Only
by collective action can we obtain our goals.
Sincerely,
(signature)
Charles Walker
Chairman, Spacecause
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