"Oh, not another space group!"

This is one of many responses we heard while setting up meetings for the 2006 Space Blitz.  Apparently, numerous space advocacy and industry groups had been up to the Hill over the previous month, speaking to appropriators about the importance of space exploration.  Even though it may have made it more difficult for us in the scheduling process, this is a great sign.  It showed that the space advocacy community is getting more politically savvy.   In the past, visits by space advocacy groups were few and far between.  Now we are visiting far more frequently and building up name recognition.  Although we don't yet have the capacity to be as persistent as some of the other issue groups, we are making great progress.

Despite some initial scheduling issues, the 2006 event which ran from June 5 through 7 was quite successful. We had twenty-four participants from the Space Exploration Alliance (SEA) in this effort, representing the National Space Society, the X-Prize Foundation, The Mars Society, California Space Authority, AIA, AIAA, American Astronautical Society, The Moon Society, Space Generation Foundation, National Coalition of Space States, Aerospace States Association, the Planetary Society and the National Society for Black Engineers.

This highly-skilled group of participants spoke to forty-five Congressional offices, meeting with or dropping off literature to all offices of the House Appropriations Committee.  We were there at a timely period in the budget process--the House Appropriations Committee was about to start marking up the budget, so this was a perfect time to get our message to them.

The main focus of this year's event is to request that Congress fund NASA at the full authorized level of $17.9 billion, which would require an additional $1.1 billion over the President's request. This level is required to enable NASA to implement the full mandate of the 2005 NASA Authorization Act, in which Congress endorsed the Vision for Space Exploration.  Specifically, the additional funds will allow NASA to aggressively develop the next generation of space exploration vehicles, while pursuing other important objectives like connecting upcoming lunar exploration work with future human exploration of Mars; stimulating private sector efforts with programs like Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and the Centennial Challenge program; and sustaining vital science missions, including the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), a dedicated probe of the Planet Jupiter's moon Europa, and the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOPHIA).

Although most of staffers that we spoke to mentioned the extremely tight budget, the vast majority of these meetings were quite positive and the staffers generally supported human space exploration.

One of the constant themes we heard was actually aimed at NASA itself.  Many in Congress are of the opinion that NASA needs to do a better job of communicating with the general public--why is space exploration important and how does it impact society?

In addition to the Congressional meetings, we had lots of fun.  At lunchtime on June 5^th, we were joined for lunch at Tortilla Coast by former Congressman Robert Walker, who discussed the challenges that we faced on the Hill.  That evening, Blitz participants attended a showing of the IMAX production of Roving Mars, and on Tuesday evening, we had a special tour of the Lockheed Space Exploration Vision Center in Crystal City.

This is by no means the end of our political activities for the year.   Only through constant communication with Congress can we hope to rival the numerous competitors for ever-tighter funds.  In August 2006, we hope to run the Home District Blitz, during which members of various organizations will set up meetings with their local Congressional offices during the August Congressional recess.  Also in August, the Mars Society will be staging a half-day blitz as part of their Conference in Washington, D.C.  Then in the autumn of 2006, we hope to conduct another small blitz in Washington, D.C.

Needless to say, this has become a very busy political year for the space advocacy community--perhaps the most active ever.  However, we cannot maintain this ambitious and vital pace without your help.  Please join us at these upcoming events to make sure that human space exploration survives future Congresses and Presidents.

• The New Age of Space Advocacy: Enter the Professionals
• ISDC 2006: Exploring New Worlds
• Private Space Companies Forge Ahead Despite Failures
• Rutan Takes Aim at NASA's CEV Plans, Likens it to 'Archeology'
• NASA, X Prize Foundation Shoot For the Moon

NOTE: The views of this article are the author's and do not reflect the policies of the National Space Society.

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