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Vice President Mike Pence to Visit KSC Today

By Marc Boucher
NASA Watch
July 6, 2017
Filed under ,
Vice President Mike Pence to Visit KSC Today

NASA Provides Coverage of Vice President Pence’s Visit to Kennedy Space Center
NASA will provide television, still image and social media coverage of Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, July 6.
NASA TV and the agency’s website will air live coverage for parts of the visit starting at noon EDT with Air Force Two’s arrival at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility runway, followed by a special address to the center’s workforce in the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at 1 p.m.
The Vice President will tour Kennedy and learn more about the center’s work as a multi-user spaceport for commercial and government clients, as well as see the agency’s progress toward launching from U.S. soil on spacecraft built by American companies, and traveling past the moon, and eventually on to Mars and beyond with the help of NASA’s new Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket.
Watch it live on SpaceRef starting at noon.
Marc’s note: Vice President Mike Pence will make his first visit to KSC Thursday after formally being tasked with leading the reconstituted National Space Council. Oddly enough the press release states “traveling past the moon” but not traveling to the moon.

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24 responses to “Vice President Mike Pence to Visit KSC Today”

  1. TheBrett says:
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    Oddly enough the press release states “traveling past the moon” but not traveling to the moon.

    I assume they’re referring to when they eventually do the first crewed flight on Orion around the Moon (remember when they made noises about speeding it up, but then nothing came of it?).

    They’re keeping expectations low, too. No additional funding or preliminary planning for what might come after they finish doing the test flights with SLS and Orion. But hey, we’ll get to repeat Apollo 8 more than 50 years later!

    Oh, this makes me cynical.

  2. Michael Spencer says:
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    I wonder exactly what hardware it at KSC and available for the VP to actually eyeball?

    He can see the SpaceX bird (and maybe a launch tonight, but driving at 1PM probably not). Any SLS-related hardware? Can he see previously-flown SX boosters? Will he see the SX logo or the SLS logo?

    Appearances matter.

    • Daniel Woodard says:
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      Some of the Orion elements are at KSC.

    • fcrary says:
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      He could see either or both logos. There is plenty of SLS, Orion and SpaceX hardware around. It depends on who organized the events and what impression they wanted to make. I do note that the location is Kennedy, not Cape Canaveral. I think that rules out seeing recovered Falcon 9 first stages.

      • Michael Spencer says:
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        So it does.

      • ProfSWhiplash says:
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        Falcon 9 is currently being launched from LC-39A. That’s located on the KSC side of the fence outside of CCAFS. OTOH, the Landing Zone pads are inside the Cape. (Maybe they can show Pence a landed-&-refurbished stage 1 already being integrated for another launch).

    • HyperJ says:
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      This is what he will speak in front of:
      https://uploads.disquscdn.c

      It looks like:
      1) Flown cargo Dragon
      2) EFT-1 Orion(?)
      3) CST-100 mockup/trainer

      He’ll probably tour to see more things.

      • ProfSWhiplash says:
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        If they’re going include a mock-up capsule, it’s a pity they can’t also roll in SNC’s DC test vehicle.

        • Michael Spencer says:
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          SNC consistently gets the short stick, for whatever reason.

          • HyperJ says:
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            That’s because it is not A) a crewed vehicle or B) not flying. If any of that was true, you betcha it would be on display.

      • Michael Spencer says:
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        Thanks – a lot – for the pic.

        Those doors (in the upper right, with a person in front) never fail to impress.

    • Saturn1300 says:
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      Starliner.

  3. moon2mars says:
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    That last White House visitor never saw the Shuttle launch.

  4. moon2mars says:
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    Hard to watch a Shuttle launch since it’s been retired for 6 years. So what is the VP supposed to watch launch?

  5. moon2mars says:
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    And what was your original point?

  6. Saturn1300 says:
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    Besides spacecraft, Perhaps he can get O-ATK and NASA to use an American 1st stage on Antares instead of a Ukrainian one. 300 million$ a launch to ISS. Using a ATK 2 Shuttle segment SRB should be cheaper. ATK has it in their ’12 catalog. 1.5 million lbs thrust for 2 minutes. NASA has probably paid in advance for Antares though. Actions speak louder than words. Building in house like SpaceX should be cheaper. Maybe NASA could find the funds to convert Antares. They did to buy Atlas launches for Cygnus.

    • Zed_WEASEL says:
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      Any launch vehicle using a shuttle size SRB can only be currently launch from LC-39B at KSC with a newly modified MLP and stacked inside the VAB. It will not be cheaper than the current Antares 200 series.

  7. Saturn1300 says:
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    Could be he will name the Administrator.

    • Michael Spencer says:
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      That’s my thinking by as well. As others point out, there’s really not much else to see or happening or reason to bring #2 hereabouts.

  8. Tritium3H says:
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    For pete’s sake, can we keep the partisan political sniping and bickering out of NasaWatch. Why the heck would anyone have a problem with the VP visiting and giving a speech at the most identifiable and emblematic site of our Nation’s manned space program??

  9. moon2mars says:
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    In case you don’t know the VP is the head of the reinstated National Space Council which oversees US space policy at NASA, Defense, Intelligence and Commerce Agencies. And seems like he will be visiting many NASA centers in this new position, a pretty authentic reason.

  10. tutiger87 says:
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    A lot of us are teleworking to avoid the usual circus of parking lot closings and security nonsense.

  11. moon2mars says:
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    Your initial post stated: “The last White House visitor came to watch a shuttle launch.” However, you conveniently failed to mention he never saw the launch or ever bothered to try attend another launch before or after STS 134. So what was your original point? Wait nevermind. This conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.