Director of the Kennedy Space Centre knew all about Tongue
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Jutting jaw, crew cut hair, slim and fit as a fiddle – and a steady gaze that missed nothing – this man was the real thing. An astronaut.
Robert D Cabana - director of the John F Kennedy Space Centre, and four space shuttle flights totalling 1010 hours in space – he is like, seriously impressive.
“So where do you represent?”
“The top of the UK, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.”
As he turned to another MP, he suddenly paused, turned back, and looked hard at me.
“Sutherland - in Scotland?”
“Yes.”
“Say, that where you Brits are going to start launching. That’s real big stuff for you guys. We’ll be watching closely from this side of the pond.”
You know I felt a swell of pride to discover that the county of Sutherland suddenly had this level of name recognition at Cape Canaveral. It was the same with so many other of the NASA top brass that we met there. They knew all about the projected space launch site near Tongue. It seemed almost as if they knew more about it than many of we locals do.
Of course that was precisely why a small group of MPs went to the US just before the pandemic struck, to listen and learn, and to apply contacts made and new information so that the UK’s space launch does indeed become a reality.
To have this happen in the Far North can only bring good to the area.
Local employment and tourism will greatly benefit – and this will be so very welcome as Dounreay gradually decommissions and job numbers diminish.
Furthermore, I can imagine local manufacturing companies getting work and increased use of Wick Airport as the first launch date approaches.
My visit to Cape Canaveral much increased my enthusiasm for the project and so too have recent local decisions. The first one is planning.
On June 26 the Highland Council North Planning Committee made a truly historic decision when they unanimously agreed that the “vertical launch space port” application should be given the go ahead.
The next thing was to see whether the Scottish Government would overturn the decision and it was with a sinking heart that I read that our visiting Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen (owner of 221,000 acres of Scotland) had written to the Scottish Government asking them to hit the space port on the head.
But then a few days ago the Scottish Government announced that they were not heeding Mr Povlsen’s plea and that they would let the planning approval stand. Hallelujah!
Now it is time to give credit where it is due.
It is the way of life that opposition politicians generally have a pop at the government - but in this case I’m not doing to do so. On the contrary Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish Government has acted in the best interests of local people. And I say that for the record.
As some readers may be aware this constituency had a surprise visit from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove last week. Readers may also know that I raised the worrying uncertainty of the future of Wick Airport with him. I put it to him that it made no sense to bring into being local space launch, at the same time as seeing a reduction to air passenger “launch” at Wick.
He nodded in agreement, then added: “Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to visit the space launch site during this visit to your constituency – but next time I would be very keen to go there.”
He’ll be most welcome.
Any politician, any decision-maker, any government minister - of whatever political colour - who helps get this project up and running will be welcome on the big day that the first rocket flies up from Sutherland.
I’ve a good mind to invite Robert D Cabana too.
