I'm scratching my head over the reactions of some Congresscritters about the successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX on Friday. Given that NASA has several billion dollars it will be giving to commercial transport systems over the next few years, you'd think that Congress would be happy that a private company was able to get a medium-lift rocket into orbit on their first try. But then, you wouldn't be Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. This Texas Republican -- that's important, hang on -- gave a short statement after the launch that was at best tepid, and in reality a slap in the face to SpaceX and all the other private space companies:
This first successful test flight of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is a belated sign that efforts to develop modest commercial space cargo capabilities are showing some promising signs. While this test flight was important, the program ...
