Guest: Mark Bray. Topics: Mark talked about NASA and related issues, his run for Congress, congressional issues, space in the campaign & more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience. We welcomed back Mark Bray to the program to discuss the role of space policy in his congressional campaign. During the first segment of our 91 minute program, Mark explained why he was running for congress as an Independent candidate for the 5th District in Alabama. We quickly focused in on the role of space in his congressional race. In addition, is space a priority issue, how much of one, and in his district, how space aware are the voters. I asked Mark about aerospace engineers and other engineers in the U.S. Congress. I doubt you will be surprised the demographics Mark shared with us. I also asked Mark for his committee choices should he win and how easy it might be for him to get a seat on one of the science, technology & space committees. Mark talked about commercial space, the support for it in the Huntsville area, and public/private partnerships. The art of compromise was discussed & our guest noted the absence of it in congress. Mark explained the assets a engineer brings to the table in complex decision making and why that background is well suited for being in congress. Since Mark works on SLS in his engineering job, of course he got a few questions about it. I wanted to know if members of the public asked or commented to him one way or the other on SLS & its future. He said SLS comments, when he got them, were more general. Judy sent in a note about a video on his website, www.brayforcongress.com, which focused on the NASA culture of the 60s. Mark said he was focusing on the new, young NASA that could take on the near impossible and do things because it was not yet a tried and proven member of the government bureaucracy. Today, NASA is the bureaucracy and because of that, it operates differently. His comments were interesting, don't miss them. Bob asked Mark about the private sector creating jobs as opposed to the claims that the public sector creates the job. Again, don't miss his reply. Dr. Rowe asked a question about making astronaut medical data more freely available to researchers, wanting to know if Congress could make such data more readily available. In the second segment, Mark said he wanted to establish himself as the go to guy on space issues for congress. Greg called in to talk about why space matters as a national issue. Tim from Huntsville was the last caller on the program. He brought up needed ITAR reform to which Mark said there were meaningful reforms on the table that he supports. He then brought up spaceports and launch restrictions, then I asked our guest to rank campaign priorities including the economy, healthcare, foreign policy, Ebola, ISIS, Russia, and space. Mark said the economy trumped all issues but listen to see where space is on this list. Please post
Guest
The Space Show
