[Update on 5/29/14]
I've decided to move this petition to the web site for my book, so please follow that link intead. Thank you for your support. I'll be shutting this one down later.
[Original petition]
In the recent NASA authorization bill passed out of the House Science Committee a month ago, there is a phrase in there with regard to commercial crew program, needed to end our dependence on the Russians for human access to space. It says that "safety is the highest priority." I explained why this makes for terrible law in a recent USA Today editorial.
This is a matter of national security. Every time we have to purchase more seats from the Russians, we have to waive the non-proliferation act, undercutting our attempts at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and missiles, and rendering it toothless. Moreoever, it is shameful that the nation that once sent men to the moon cannot today even get American astronauts to space on American rockets.
No frontier has ever been explored or opened to development and settlement by humanity without the risk to human life, and space is the harshest one that humanity has ever face. Let us send a message to Congress, both House and Senate, and tell them to get their priorities straight. Change that offensive language in the House bill to "having multiple means of getting Americans to orbit on American launch systems is the highest priority." If I were an astronaut, I'd be ashamed at the language in that bill, which implies that they lack valor, or willingness to risk their lives for their country, and tell Congress. I hope that some or all of them will sign this petition.
