Astronaut and NASA Head Visit Rocketdyne

Flags and pompons waved. Orchestral music swelled over loudspeakers. And hundreds of people cheered the pronouncements of American achievements in space exploration coming from the podium.

It could have been Cape Canaveral, circa 1966. But this was the scene at Rockwell Aerospace’s Rocketdyne plant in Canoga Park on Tuesday.

Employees gathered in the plant’s courtyard for a rally welcoming NASA chief Daniel Goldin and Robert Cabana, an astronaut who will command the first shuttle flight in 1997 to begin construction of a planned U.S. space station.

“We’re on a mission to change the universe decades from now, and by God, you’re doing it!” Goldin told the enthusiastic crowd.

“A rocket’s going to take off for Mars and there’s going to be a footprint there,” he said. “It’s going to be a footprint from an astronaut in a blue [U.S.] uniform. Next to him is going to be an American flag. And everyone in this courtyard is going to know that you made America better by the year 2020.”

Goldin visited the Rocketdyne plants on De Soto and Canoga avenues to take tours and assure employees that the company’s products--including the space shuttle’s main engines and the electric power system for the space station--play a major role in NASA’s progress. Rocketdyne touts itself as the only American aerospace company that contributes major components of the shuttle and station.

Cabana, a veteran of three space flights, praised the company’s products.

“These are the most phenomenal pieces of machinery,” he said, gesturing toward pieces of equipment on display near the podium. “You’re meeting the challenges and you’re delivering a quality product.”

Goldin, who ascended to NASA’s top spot in 1992, has tried to cut costs at the agency without sacrificing space missions. In describing the financial problems NASA has dealt with in the past decade, Goldin alluded to 19th century senator and secretary of state Daniel Webster.

He said the filibustering style of the contentious politician has echoed in NASA’s recent struggle to retain support in the post-Space Race era.

“There are new Daniel Websters born every minute,” he said. “And if we listened to them, we wouldn’t be standing here at Rocketdyne.”