Iconic NASA astronaut all but endorses Donald Trump at GOP convention

In a speech before the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, retired astronaut Eileen Collins delivered a sharp rebuke of NASA's recent leadership, endorsing controversial Republican nominee Donald Trump in all but name.

Collins, who was the first woman to command a NASA space shuttle mission, had been expected to deliver a nonpartisan speech, and stopped just shy of issuing a more explicit endorsement.

However, the speech will be viewed as a clear critique of NASA's leadership under the Obama administration.

While Collins did not mention Trump's name, she did invoke both the Trump campaign's theme for the evening, "Make America First Again," as well as the campaign's overall slogan: "Make America Great Again."

"We need leadership that will make America's space program first again," Collins said during the speech.

Collins called for better leadership in spaceflight and policy, saying that NASA has lost its number one position in exploration since John F. Kennedy tasked the space agency with sending people to the moon.

Although Collins praised NASA's recent robotic missions that have changed the way we see objects in the solar system like never before, she still sees major problems with human spaceflight today.

"We know that exploration leads to invention, innovation and discovery," Collins said. "For example, our successful robotic missions to Mars, Jupiter and Pluto have provided valuable information about our own planet, but in 2011, the space shuttle program ended. The last time the United States launched our own astronauts from our own soil was over five years ago."

“Nations that lead on the frontier, lead in the world,” Collins added. “We need that visionary leadership again. Leadership that will inspire the next generation to have that same passion.”

Collins, who spoke on the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and was introduced with an Apollo-themed video, called to mind a familiar refrain from some former astronauts and space policy experts, saying that America has lost its edge in space since the last space shuttle flew in 2011.

The Obama administration's 2010 cancellation of the Constellation program designed to bring people back to the moon is also a sore spot for many in the space industry.

The cancellation of Constellation -- a program reportedly rife with budget overruns -- seemed to leave NASA without a specific human spaceflight goal after the space shuttles were retired, a decision made during the George W. Bush administration.

Collins has spoken out about her disappointment in the way the Constellation program ended.

"I believe program cancellation decisions that are made by bureaucracies, behind closed doors, and without input by the people, are divisive, damaging, cowardly, and many times more expensive in the long run," Collins said in reference to the program in front of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology in February.

Collins also referenced the fact that NASA hasn't launched its own astronauts to the International Space Station since the last space shuttle flew five years ago, as evidence that the agency's leadership has faltered.

NASA now relies on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to deliver people to and from the station, but that could change soon.

The agency also has contracts with the private spaceflight companies Boeing and SpaceX to fly astronauts to the Space Station aboard privately-built spacecraft starting as early as next year, a decision the Republican party platform seems to implicitly endorse.

The public-private partnerships between NASA, the Department of Defense, and commercial companies have given us technological progress that has reduced the cost of accessing space and extended America’s space leadership in the commercial, civil, and national security spheres. The entrepreneurship and innovation culture of the free market is revitalizing the nation’s space capabilities, saving taxpayer money, and advancing technology critical to maintain America’s edge in space and in other fields. 

Collins isn't the first former astronaut to speak at a political convention. John Glenn -- the first American to orbit Earth -- spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 1976.

Her speech is getting a mixed response on Twitter.

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Some people are also claiming that Collins left out a more explicit endorsement of Trump, cutting out the sentence "that leader is Donald Trump," from her speech. (There were also reports that the teleprompter was cutting out during the speeches Wednesday.)

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Until tonight, Trump could not have been seen as a "pro-space" candidate. On the campaign trail, he once made a comment about how we need to fix infrastructure on Earth before worrying about going to space. However, with tonight's space-focused speeches, Trump seems to angling for the title of "space candidate" in this race for the White House.

Senator Ted Cruz, who notably did not explicitly endorse Trump, chairs a Senate committee that helps to oversee NASA. He mentioned the Apollo 11 moon landing during his Wednesday night speech. The moon landing "was the power of freedom," Cruz said.

Trump also took the time to pay his respects to the astronauts of Apollo 11 ahead of night three of the convention.

"Forty-seven years ago our nation did something that NOBODY thought we could do -- we were the first to put a man on the moon," a post on Trump's official Facebook page says.

"It is time to be number one, again! Believe me, as president, we will once again, make America first again!"