Florida has a big stake in the return to human spaceflight. NASA contributes more than $2 billion to the state’s economy, and there are about 100,000 aerospace employees in the state. President Donald Trump wants to see a lunar landing by 2024 and private companies are planning the first crewed space flights to launch from the space coast since the Space Shuttle program was discontinued in 2011. Are we ready to return to human travel? SpaceX targeted June of 2019 for its first manned missions, but an April explosion disrupted that timeline. We will talk about space jobs in Florida but also the impact to the 2020 elections as many candidates try to sell their space plans for your votes. How it all is connected?
GUESTS:
- Dr. Ken Kremer, research scientist and space journalist with Space UpClose
- Mark Bontrager, Vice President of Spaceport Operations, Space Florida