MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — NASA hopes to break ground on a permanent home for the United States Space Academy campus some time next year, and West Virginia native Homer Hickam believes the Mountain State has a good chance to be selected.
Hickam, a McDowell County native and former NASA engineer, said even if the campus that would be home to 200 students doesn’t land here, there are other opportunities. The aerospace industry is growing at a high rate, with many businesses already in West Virginia that could support the effort to return to the moon and beyond.
“I do see West Virginia growing with a number of federal installations that probably have to do with the aerospace industry,” Hickam said on MetroNews “Talkline.” “But I really want to pat Governor Morrissey on the back for taking up this challenge.”
Morrisey announced last week West Virginia was throwing its name in the ring to host he academy after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in August. The deadline for states to submit hosting proposals is Oct. 26.
“Having West Virginia be the centerpiece of this new effort would be truly incredible,” Morrisey said during last Wednesday’s announcement in Fairmont. “Now, this is a major opportunity, but there are a lot of states fighting for it, and I recognize that.”
Hickam said in addition to access to aviation assets and infrastructure, the potential site would need at least 300 acres initially, with the available area land to expand to accommodate 4,000 students or more. Florida, Texas, and Alabama; already centers for rocket development and space travel are top contenders, but industry growth could warrant a fourth academic and training center.
“Maybe there’s a possibility of a rope dope that goes along here,” Hickam said. “They’ll knock themselves out, and the other state would be considered like, ‘Oh, I don’t know, maybe West Virginia.’”
Lunar exploration was suspended in the 1970s and in the 1980s replaced with the space shuttle program. Budget cuts and competing priorities made space travel a low priority until private industry has demonstrated the ability to travel beyond the horizon cost-effectively.
“It just never worked out. At best it was like $1 billion to launch a shuttle, and it was a scary and dangerous spacecraft,” Hickam said. “So it was just bad decisions that now we’re trying to make up for.”
Hickam said the current private industry investments working toward a possible permanent presence on the moon are now important to the government and national security. The weaponization of satellite technology makes the moon both strategic and key terrain for the first to establish a presence on the moon.
“But it turns out unfortunately we have the military aspect as well,” Hickam said. “It’s clear that some of our adversaries think the moon is the high ground and we better get up there.”
West Virginia will still enter the conversation with many major government and industry players even if not selected for the campus. Those conversations could develop into opportunities for West Virginia University and Marshall University as well as advanced manufacturing and aviation operations.
“By putting in an application like that, there will be a lot of eyes going to be on that,” Hickam said. “It’s going to be in the back of their minds for possible future applications.”