Sen. Ashley Moody believes that NASA may still move its headquarters to the Sunshine State, telling national media that keeping it in the nation’s capital is “not needed” and suggesting the space agency’s Chief of Staff may be an advocate for relocation.
“With Representative Byron Donalds, we sat down with NASA’s newest chief of staff and told him all about Florida Space Coast. Of course, he’s a Floridian, so he already has a heads up on that and talked about what that would mean not only for Florida Space Coast, but what it would mean for NASA,” Moody told LiveNOW from Fox about a recent meeting with Brian Hughes, a man with deep Florida roots and a familiarity with the Space Coast.
Whether that meeting leads to the desired outcome remains to be seen.
But Moody believes that given “how much is going on on the Space Coast, how much activity happens there, not only for the United States, but for the world in terms of space exploration and innovation,” a move to where “you have all of the activity going on, where the launches are actually happening (would) be incredibly important, not just for the U.S. military or for our private stakeholders, but for NASA.”
Friday’s interview continues persistence from Florida Republicans on the point.
Moody and Rick Scott introduced in March the Consolidating Aerospace Programs Efficiently (CAPE) at Canaveral Act to move the headquarters of the space agency on the Space Coast.
Gov. Ron DeSantis asserted that the Department of Governmental Efficiency would “nix” plans for a new NASA HQ in the Nation’s Capital, a good move given the “toxic culture” in the Washington area.
If NASA doesn’t change its plans, it seeks “approximately 375,000 to 525,000 square feet of office space to house NASA’s workforce” with walkability and mass transit options preferred.
“The desired location is within walking distance to a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority station. In addition, the new location also needs parking options, as well as convenient access to food establishments,” the RFP from last November reads.
–A.G. Gancarski, Florida Politics
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