At Brevard rally, Pence promises to reinvigorate space program

Citing the space program as an example of American leadership in decline, Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence on Monday urged hundreds of supporters at a rally in Cocoa to help propel him and Donald Trump to the White House with just over a week left to vote.

“We all know that space is the final frontier,” the Indiana governor and former congressman said at the Space Coast Convention Center, about 25 miles from Kennedy Space Center. “And just as we’ve always done before, America needs to lead the way on the final frontier.”

Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton are running nearly even in the race to claim Florida’s critical 29 electoral votes, according to an average of polls by RealClear Politics. It showed Trump ahead by half a percentage point despite Clinton leading five of the nine polls cited.

Pence urged rally attendees to vote — it appeared most already had — and spread the word to friends, and made a plea to Republicans to “come home” and support the ticket.

“Florida, we’ve got work to do,” said Pence. “Time’s a-wasting.”

Pence’s pledge of support for the space program, which has barely been discussed during the campaign, played well on the Space Coast, briefly prompting a chant of “Space! Space!”

Pence, 57, said he remembered black-and-white TV images of the early space programs that served as “anthems of my youth, the inspiration not just of America but of the world.”

“Our space program needs new leadership and a new vision,” said Pence. “We cannot afford to fall further behind in space exploration or technology.”

He said a Trump-Pence administration would focus NASA missions on deep space exploration, implying, as advisers have said, that NASA spends too much on Earth-focused science such as investigating climate change.

Hillary Clinton to speak in Sanford; Trump set for Orlando

Pence promised NASA would promote more partnerships with commercial space firms, beyond contracts already in place to fly cargo and soon astronauts to the International Space Station. The Republican nominees also want to revive a National Space Council, led by the vice president, to coordinate policies and technologies across sectors.

“We can be more efficient, we can be more effective, we can use space dollars wisely,” said Pence. “But we’re going to do it. We’re going to make the investments. And we’re going to create a brighter and boundless future for America, and a growing economy on the Space Coast for generations.”

While calling for new leadership and vision, it was not clear if the priorities Pence laid out would change human spaceflight programs now targeting launches from Cape Canaveral by 2018.

NASA is helping Boeing and SpaceX prepare rockets to fly crews to the station, and developing an Apollo-style rocket and capsule for deep space missions, first around the moon and possibly to Mars in the 2030s.

Earlier in Monday's rally, U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Space, criticized the Obama administration’s 2010 cancellation of the Constellation program that had intended to return astronauts to the moon after the shuttle program, but was deemed under-funded and too far behind schedule.

"We lack focus, we lack leadership, we lack a mission and a goal in our space program," said Babin. "“We have seen our space program slip.”

After the rally, Pence met with a group of local aerospace industry representatives before moving on to scheduled events further west along Florida's pivotal "I-4 corridor."

Besides space, Pence's stump remarks repeated themes central to the Trump campaign.

Saying Clinton was dogged by an “avalanche of scandals,” he discussed the FBI’s recently announced review of new e-mails found on a Clinton aide’s computer.

The e-mails emerged months after the FBI closed an investigation into whether Clinton mishandled classified information, recommending no charges.

The issue prompted chants of “Lock her up!” from the crowd, which also called for Trump to “build a wall” to protect against illegal immigration.

Pence criticized Clinton as weak on national security and the economy, and said the next president would shape the Supreme Court's balance for decades.

“Do not rest, do not relent for the next eight days until you do everything in your power to ensure that the next president to make appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States is President Donald Trump,” he said.

Donald Trump needs to win Florida in order to take race

That was a key issue for rally attendee Dan Acker, a 78-year-old Merritt Island resident for whom Pence’s space comments also resonated.

The former NASA contractor during the Gemini and Apollo programs called it "ridiculous” that the U.S. now relies on Russia to put astronauts in space.

“I was pleased to hear what he said about the space program,” said Acker.

Sherry Ashby, 66, from Palm Bay was first in line at 7 a.m. for the noon rally. Echoing many others in the crowd, she pointed to anti-abortion laws, stricter immigration access and looser gun policies as the election’s most important issues.

“They [illegal immigrants] never helped make the road or died for their country, and they’re getting more benefits than me who has worked all my life,” she said, calling for the need to secure America’s borders. “I have nothing against immigrants, I have nothing against someone coming into our country, but it’s very clear that you’re supposed to come in and assimilate.”

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 orjdean@floridatoday.com.And follow on Twitter at@flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook atfacebook.com/jamesdeanspace.