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Budget

Getting Pork The Old Fashioned Way in Huntsville

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
July 4, 2007

Editor’s note: Looks like Dave King’s office has been busy. If you can’t get funding for things at your center from your boss, you can always get your local Senator to toss some pork back your way. In this case its $9,350,000 worth of pork. Of course, it also helps Sen. Shelby’s popularity back home to shovel tax dollars at the locals – even if the money goes to places that has nothing whatsoever to do with NASA’s charter. Just come up with round numbers too. You don’t need to bother and check and see what the actual financial needs are – they’ll figure out how to spend the money. Total FY 2008 pork bill for Sen. Shelby: $16,350,000. Here’s the list:

From Senate Report 110-124 – DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE AND JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2008:

  • Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, to produce a common intelligent sensor module through the near-term development of the sensor technologies and integration algorithms necessary for on-orbit assembly and other AR&D missions – 2,000,000 Shelby
  • Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, to develop a cost effective nuclear power system to support the long-range objectives of NASA for missions to the moon, to Mars and to deep space – 2,150,000 Shelby
  • Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, to help NASA/MSFC accomplish its current and future missions by providing critical information on composite materials as they relate to the NASA space exploration programs – 2,000,000 Shelby
  • Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, to provide a secure, retrievable storage solution for Marshall’s Data Center that will meet all Presidential Directives – 1,200,000 Shelby
  • Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, to provide critical, breakthrough technology to NASA for materials development, testing, and safety improvements to the Space Shuttle and Ares launch systems – 1,500,000 Shelby
  • Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, to support the ongoing technology maturation program for liquid oxygen/liquid methane propulsion technology – 500,000 Shelby
  • Of course, it also helps to shovel tax dollars at the locals to keep them happy too – event if it has nothing whatsoever to do with NASA’s charter:

  • McWane Science Center, Birmingham, AL, for a program will focus on increasing interest and aptitude in the science fields in K-12 students through hands-on activities that will serve as an extension of the classrooms. Teacher training will also play a major role – 300,000 Shelby
  • Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL, to provide a comprehensive, diverse, and flexible pool of talent at lower labor rates in the civil service environment to facilitate research and development, studies and analyses of all areas of higher temperature advanced materials research and development – 750,000 Shelby
  • Gulf Coast Exploreum, Mobile, AL, to stimulate increased enrollment in engineering, mathematics, and science in Alabama’s universities by instructing and inspiring K-12 students in the fundamentals and application of these fields – 250,000 Shelby
  • Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL, for a tool for educators to allow their students to reach their full potential through participation in exciting hands on projects. The projects are dynamic in scope and are structured to be less time restrictive on the classroom schedule and the educator though self-directed curriculum – 250,000 Shelby
  • McWane Science Center, Birmingham, AL, for a program will focus on increasing interest and aptitude in the science fields in K-12 students through hands-on activities that will serve as an extension of the classrooms. Teacher training will also play a major role – 300,000 Shelby
  • Southern Research Institute, Birmingham, AL, for the development of laboratory-based test methods and test standards for coupon and component level characterization; development of subcomponent testing capabilities for material, component and system characterization; development and qualification of modeling and simulation techniques for these applications; and development of an integrated modeling and testing approach for evaluation and optimization of new material concepts – 1,500,000 Shelby
  • U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL, for completion of a long overdue update for the museum and exhibits will provide a more stimulating and effective presentation of the history of our nation’s space exploration efforts and will serve to stimulate increased interest in science and technology – 500,000 Shelby
  • University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, to provide research that will provide both fundamental insight into the combustion behavior of this fuel with liquid oxygen which will assist in realizing its full performance potential and will train the next generation of propulsion scientists and engineers who will work for or support NASA in implementing the chosen engine designs – 2,000,000 Shelby
  • University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, to conduct the fundamental and applied research needed to develop effective near-space technologies for station-keeping – 600,000 Shelby
  • NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.