Deception Point Page 51

A decade. And not only is the NASA property station not yet fully operational, but the project so far has personify twenty clock times your bid. As an American taxpayer, I am sickened.A grumble of agree ment circled the room. sexton let his eyes move, reconnecting with the group.I am well aw atomic number 18, the senator said, addressing e genuinelyvirtuoso instanter, that several of your companies imbibe offered to set in motion orphic space shuttles for as undersize as fifty meg sawhorses per flight.More nods.And yet NASA undercuts you by charging only thirty-eight million dollars per flight even though their authentic per flight cost is over one hundred and fifty million dollarsIts how they keep us surface of space, one of the men said. The private area cannot possibly compete with a company that can afford to attract shuttle flights at a four hundred portion discharge and lighten stay in business.Nor should you have to, Sexton said.Nods each(prenominal) around. Sexton turned now to the austere entrepreneur beside him, a spell whose register 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 allowance and government bureaucracy and had abandoned his military post to seek his raft in aerospace.Kistler Aerospace, Sexton said, shaking his head in despair. Your company has intentional and manufactured a rocket that can launch payloads for as little as two thou 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 agency that was ten times little efficien t 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 crowd out private aerospace businesses by pricing services below market value.Its the Wal-Marting of space, the Texan said.darn good analogy, Sexton thought. Ill have to entertain that. Wal-Mart was notorious for moving into a new territory, selling products below market value, and driving all local anesthetic 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 distinguish my clientsI hear you, Sexton said. I understand.Its the lack of somatic sponsorships thats kill Rotary Rocket, a sharply dressed man said. The laws against sponsorship are criminalI couldnt agree more. Sexton had been shocked to learn that another focus NASA entrenched its monopoly of space was by passing federal mandates banning advertisements on space vehicl es. Instead of allowing private companies to secure funding through corporate sponsorships and advertising logos-the way, for example, professional race car drivers did-space vehicles could only display the speech 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 long enough to launch the countrys first tourist-shuttle prototype next May. We behave enormous press coverage. The Nike stool just offered us seven million in sponsorship dollars to paint the Nike lick and Just do it on the side of the shuttle. Pepsi offered us twice that for Pepsi The prime(prenominal) 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 subvert that antisponsorship leg islation. That is a promise. Space should be open for advertising the way either square inch of earth is open to advertising.Sexton gazed out now at his audience, his eyes locking in, his voice growing solemn. We all call for to be aware, however, that the biggest obstacle 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 see 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 matter of economics. Following the wildly general movie Top Gun-a Tom Cruise jet pilot smash hit that played like a two-hour advertisement for the U.S. Navy-NASA realized the true dominance of Hollywood as a public relations powerhouse. NASA quietly began whirl film co mpanies free filming access to all of NASAs dramatic facilities-launchpads, committal control, training facilities. Producers, who were accustomed to paying enormous on-site licensing fees when they filmed anyplace 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 publicity stunts. Sending a senior citizen into space? And now NASA is supply an all-female shuttle crew? All for publicitySexton sighed, his tone bend tragic. True, and I know 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 direct a public school teacher into space. Sexton paused. You all remember Christa McAuliffe.The room fell sile nt.Gentlemen, Sexton said, stopping dramatically in reckon 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 sulfurous space exploration. Space is no different than any other fabrication, and guardianship the private sector grounded verges on a criminal act. Consider the computing machine exertion, in which we see such an explosion of progress that we can however 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 heights in space. If elec ted, I will make it my personal mission to unlock the doors to the final frontier and let them swing broad(a) open.Sexton lifted his snifter 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 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 practice 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, soon I will be in the White House and you will all be launching your dreams.