Deception Point Page 51

A decade. And non only is the NASA lay station not still fully operational, but the project so far has cost twenty dollar bill times your bid. As an American taxpayer, I am sickened.A grumble of agreement circled the room. Sexton let his eyes move, reconnecting with the group.I am well aw are, the senator said, addressing every wiz now, that several(prenominal) of your companies have offered to launch private space shuttles for as little as fifty one million million dollars per flight.More nods.And yet NASA undercuts you by charging only thirty-eight million dollars per flight even though their actual per flight cost is over one one snow and fifty million dollarsIts how they keep us out of space, one of the men said. The private sector cannot possibly compete with a company that can afford to run shuttle flights at a four hundred percent loss and still stay in business.Nor should you have to, Sexton said.Nods all around.Sexton turned now to the austere entrepreneur beside him, a cosmos whose file Sexton had read with interest. Like many of the entrepreneurs funding Sextons campaign, this man was a former military engineer who had become disillusioned with low contend and governing body bureaucracy and had abandoned his military post to seek his fortune in aerospace.Kistler Aerospace, Sexton said, shaking his head in despair. Your company has designed and construct a rocket that can launch payloads for as little as two thousand dollars per pound compared to NASAs costs of ten thousand dollars per pound. Sexton paused for effect. And yet you have no clients.Why would I have any clients? the man replied. Last week NASA undercut us by charging Motorola only eight hundred and twelve dollars per pound to launch a telecomm satellite. The government launched that satellite at a nine hundred percent lossSexton nodded. Taxpayers were unwittingly subsidizing an style that was ten times less efficient than its competition. It has become painfully clear, he said , his voice darkening, that NASA is working very hard to stifle competition in space. They tug out private aerospace businesses by pricing services below market value.Its the Wal-Marting of space, the Texan said.Damn good analogy, Sexton thought. Ill have to remember that. Wal-Mart was notorious for wretched into a new territory, selling products below market value, and driving all local competition out of business.Im goddamned sick and tired, the Texan said, of having to pay millions in business taxes so Uncle Sam can use that money to steal my clientsI hear you, Sexton said. I understand.Its the lack of corporate sponsorships thats killing synchronous converter Rocket, a sharply dressed man said. The laws against sponsorship are criminalI couldnt agree more. Sexton had been shocked to learn that another way NASA entrenched its monopoly of space was by passing federal mandates banning advertisements on space vehicles. Instead of allowing private companies to secure funding throu gh corporate sponsorships and advertising logos-the way, for example, professional slipstream car drivers did-space vehicles could only display the words USA and the company name. In a country that spent $185 billion a year on advertising, not one advertising dollar ever found its way into the coffers of private space companies.Its robbery, one of the men snapped. My company hopes to stay in business coarse enough to launch the countrys first tourist-shuttle prototype next May. We expect enormous press coverage. The Nike Corporation just offered us seven million in sponsorship dollars to create the Nike swoosh and Just do it on the side of the shuttle. Pepsi offered us twice that for Pepsi The choice of a new generation. But according to federal law, if our shuttle displays advertising, we are prohibited from launching itThats right, Senator Sexton said. And if elected, I will work to abolish that antisponsorship legislation. That is a promise. Space should be open for advertisin g the way every lame inch of earth is open to advertising.Sexton gazed out now at his audience, his eyes locking in, his voice growing solemn. We all need to be aware, however, that the biggest bulwark to privatization of NASA is not laws, but rather, it is public perception. Most Americans still hold a romanticized view of the American space program. They still believe NASA is a necessary government agency.Its those goddamned Hollywood movies one man said. How many NASA-saves-the-world-from-a-killer-asteroid movies can Hollywood make, for Christs sake? Its propagandaThe plethora of NASA movies coming out of Hollywood, Sexton knew, was simply a division of economics. Following the wildly popular movie Top Gun-a Tom Cruise jet pilot blockbuster that played like a two-hour advertisement for the U.S. Navy-NASA recognize the true potential of Hollywood as a public relations powerhouse. NASA quietly began offering film companies free filming access to all of NASAs melodramatic facil ities-launchpads, mission control, training facilities. Producers, who were accustomed to paying enormous on-site licensing fees when they filmed anywhere else, jumped at the opportunity to save millions in budget costs by making NASA thrillers on free sets. Of course, Hollywood only got access if NASA approved the script.Public brainwashing, a Hispanic grunted. The movies arent half as bad as the advancement stunts. Sending a senior citizen into space? And now NASA is planning an all-female shuttle crew? All for publicitySexton sighed, his tone turning tragic. True, and I do it I dont have to remind you what happened back in the eighties when the Department of Education was bankrupt and cited NASA as wasting millions that could be spent on education. NASA devised a PR stunt to prove NASA was education-friendly. They sent a public school teacher into space. Sexton paused. You all remember Christa McAuliffe.The room fell silent.Gentlemen, Sexton said, lemniscus dramatically in fro nt of the fire. I believe it is time Americans understood the truth, for the good of all of our futures. Its time Americans understand that NASA is not leading us skyward, but rather is stifling space geographic expedition. Space is no different than any other manufacturing, and keeping the private sector grounded verges on a criminal act. consume the computer industry, in which we see such an explosion of progress that we can barely keep up from week to week Why? Because the computer industry is a free-market system It rewards efficiency and vision with profits. Imagine if the computer industry were government-run? We would still be in the dark ages. Were stagnating in space. We should put space exploration into the hands of the private sector where it belongs. Americans would be stunned by the growth, jobs, and realized dreams. I believe we should let the free-market system spur us to new high gear in space. If elected, I will make it my personal mission to unlock the doors to the final frontier and let them swing wide open.Sexton lifted his brandy glass of cognac.My friends, you came here tonight to decide if I am someone worthy of your trust. I hope I am on the way to earning it. In the same(p) way it takes investors to build a company, it takes investors to build a presidency. In the same way corporate stockholders expect returns, you as political investors expect returns. My message to you tonight is simple Invest in me, and I will never forget you. Ever. Our missions are one and the same.Sexton extended his glass toward them in a toast.With your help, my friends, briefly I will be in the White House and you will all be launching your dreams.