Martinez supports shortening the gap

Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, speaking Tuesday before a meeting of the Space Coast Tiger Bay Club and the National Space Club Florida Committee, reiterated his continuing support for shortening the gap between the end of the shuttle program in 2010 and the beginning of the Constellation program at least five years later.

"That gap of time is critical," said Martinez, who favors increasing funding to hurry development of the Constellation program to replace the aging shuttle fleet.

"Can you imagine the United States having to rely on Vladimir Putin to put a man or woman in space," he said in Melbourne. "I believe the United States should not be dependent on anyone else.

"We have a national security imperative in being preeminent in space," said Martinez, citing the Global Position Satellite system, as as well as military communications satellites. "If all of that was to go dark we'd have a heck of a problem."

Kennedy Space Center employs about 14,500 civil service and contractor workers. An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 jobs could be lost as NASA transitions from the shuttle to a manned space capsule.

Martinez called for bi-partisan action in Washington "to avert what already seems to be a recession from becoming a deep recession." That recession could be especially difficult in Brevard County if the space industry lost many jobs.

He said that state officials must work together to convince the nation that the space industry is important to national security. He suggested combining efforts with other areas that depend on the space industry, such as Houston and Huntsville, Ala.

"I don't think there is a clear plan of action for our delegation," Martinez said.

While support for the space industry is crucial in Florida, other parts of the nation do not share the same interest. So, presidential candidates have not found that dwindling space industry funding is an issue that has traction with voters.

"I don't know exactly how you get the presidential candidates talking about this," said Martinez.

Click for video of Martinez.