Head of new NASA advisory commission has a lot of PNAC friends!

[finecraft]

What are the chances that NASA's new vision will be Star Wars? This was included in Bush's moon/mars statement today: (snip)..."I will also form a commission of private and public sector experts to advise on implementing the vision that I've outlined today. This commission will report to me within four months of its first meeting. I'm today naming former Secretary of the Air Force, Pete Aldridge, to be the Chair of the Commission......He has tremendous experience in the Department of Defense and the aerospace industry. He is going to begin this important work right away."

Here's the scoop on Aldridge:

Institutional Affiliations:
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/aldridge/aldridge.html

U.S. Space Foundation: Former Director
Center for Security Policy: Participated in CSP's 2002 Keeper of the Flame award ceremony along with Douglas Feith, Peter Rodman, Dov Zakheim, William Luti, Richard Perle, and James Schlesinger
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: Former President and Fellow
Air Force Association: National Director and Life Member (1)

Regarding the Center for Security Policy:
http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/axisofinfluence.html

(snip).."The Center's 2001 annual report boasts of the extraordinary number of members of its National Security Advisory Council (formerly known as its board of advisors) that "are now on leave for government service and look forward to working every bit as closely with them in their new capacities."<37> In addition to Vice President Dick Cheney, who was an early board member, more recent members now in the Bush administration include Douglas Feith, J.D. Crouch, Richard Perle, William Schneider, James Roche, Robert Joseph, and Dov Zakheim. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was the recipient of the Center's "Keeper of the Flame" Award in 1998, has been a longtime associate and financial contributor to the Center."

..."At any given point in time, CSP has as many as eight executives on its advisory board from missile defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, or companies that lobby on their behalf... At least 13% of the Center's revenue in 2001 was specifically from defense corporations. In all, CSP has received $3 million in corporate donations since its founding in 1988, with much of that money coming from major weapons contractors. Nonetheless, the Center describes itself as a "non-partisan organization committed to stimulating and informing the national and international debates about all aspects of security policy."

...CSP's advisory council could be more aptly called the "Star Wars Hall of Fame." In addition to representatives of the top missile defense contractors, the Center's advisory body includes longtime missile defense advocates such as weapons scientist Edward Teller, former Reagan Science advisor George Keyworth, and Elliott Abrams, a former Reagan State Department official. From the world of conservative foundations and think-tanks, the CSP advisory council boasts such key figures as Bill Bennett and Jeanne Kirkpatrick of Empower America, Heritage Foundation President Edward Feulner, and Keith Payne, President of the National Institute for Public Policy. Rounding out the CSP council are sitting members of Congress such as Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) who provide a strong core of leadership on missile defense issues on Capitol Hill. (snip)

[Cannikin]

1. We'll need them for the orbital missle launchers!

[rucky]

2. Let 'em have space

I just want the world back.