9-17-2020 11:14pm

Could Ohio Play A Role In A Mission To Mars?

Rick Amburgey Neighbor

"You have truly reignited the aviation and space fire that burns so bright in Ohio. We are proud that Ohio is the birthplace, home, and future of aerospace." That's what Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wrote to President Donald Trump in a letter offering Dayton as a location for the permanent headquarters of the United States Space Command.

"Our goal is to develop dramatically improved interrelationships to support our national space strategy. As such, our Nation would benefit greatly by the synergies of a co-location of U.S. Space Command Headquarters with the Air Force Research Laboratory, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, the Air Force Institute of Technology, and the Air Force Materiel Command," DeWine wrote in the letter. DeWine also said that Ohio is also the home of the NASA Glenn Research Center, the NASA Plum Brook Station, and the Battelle Memorial Institute.

In the letter, DeWine also recommended that Secretary Esper strongly consider the consolidation of space intelligence activities at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the establishment of the Space Development Agency’s mission in Ohio. DeWine wrote that this would allow them to take advantage of Ohio's Air Force research, intelligence and acquisition expertise, as well as the NASA Glenn facilities in Cleveland and Plum Brook.

"The State of Ohio is fully committed to being a key partner in the national aerospace mission.
Ohio led this nation into the “air age” of the early 20th Century, and we have every desire to lead us into the “aerospace age” of the 21st Century," DeWine also wrote in the letter.