FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2017
COALITION FOR DEEP SPACE EXPLORATION APPLAUDS VICE PRESIDENT PENCE VISIT AND REMARKS AT THE NASA KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration (Coalition) joins with its industry partners in applauding Vice President Pence for his visit to the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) just days after the center celebrated its 55th birthday. Attendees at the Vice President’s visit included Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, Representatives Bill Posey and Ron de Santis, NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot, Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana and Deputy Director Janet Petro, Apollo astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin, and several Florida officials, as well as executives from Coalition Board of Directors member companies: Leanne Caret, President of Boeing Defense and Space; Terry Hagen, President, Aerospace and Technology, Jacobs Engineering; Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin and Lisa B. Callahan, Vice President and General Manager of Civil Space, Lockheed Martin Corporation’s Space Systems Company; Rick Serfozo, KSC Site Director, Orbital ATK, and Julie Van Kleeck, Vice President of Advanced Space and Launch Programs and Strategy at Aerojet Rocketdyne.
Speaking in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) against a backdrop that included the Orion crew vehicle flown during the EFT-1 mission and where the Orion will be stacked atop the Space Launch System prior to their journey into deep space, the Vice President celebrated the role that NASA has played in American leadership at home, abroad and in space, pledging “a new era in space exploration in the United States of America” and calling for a program to “return to the Moon and put American boots on the face of Mars.” He also recalled the signing just last Friday of the President’s Executive Order re-establishing the National Space Council and pledged to host the first meeting of the NSC “before the summer is out”.
“Both the Vice President and NASA’s Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot acknowledged the need to work together across all sectors of government, business, and academia to promote America’s programs in space,” said Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar, President and CEO of the Coalition. “The Coalition’s 70 members are working hard to achieve this – from the International Space Station to the outermost planets of the solar system – supporting human exploration, commerce, and science missions. We welcome the commitment of this Administration to maintain a presence in LEO, return to the Moon and go to Mars and beyond.”
For more information on the Coalition and its members, click here.
About the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration
The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration is a national organization of more than 70 space industry businesses and advocacy groups focused on ensuring the United States remains a leader in space, science and technology. Based in Washington D.C., the Coalition engages in outreach and education reinforcing the value and benefits of human space exploration and space science with the public and our nation’s leaders, building lasting support for a long-term, sustainable, strategic direction for our nation’s space program.
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