GOP Grounds Gore’s Satellite Imaging Idea

House Republicans fired a political rocket at Vice President Al Gore on Wednesday, dropping funding for a project he had proposed for the nation’s space budget.

At issue was Gore’s idea for sending up a U.S. satellite, to be called Triana, that would transmit pictures 24 hours a day to the Internet, showing images of cloud formations, large fires and other phenomena.

The likely Democratic presidential nominee touted the proposal as a way to help interest young people in science and the environment and “to reach new heights of understanding and insight.” President Clinton promptly included the project in his fiscal 2000 budget.

But congressional Republicans jettisoned the project from a $41-billion appropriations bill for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the House passed the money measure on Wednesday--without funding for Triana.

Chris Lehane, Gore’s spokesman, said Republicans are “Luddites” who are bringing politics into science. His reference was to 19th century English workers who smashed newly invented machines in a misguided effort to hold on to their obsolete jobs.

At the same time, White House aides hinted that the president might veto the NASA bill if the Triana project is not restored. They said NASA already has committed $21 million to the program and probably will spend another $20 million by Sept. 30, when the 1999 fiscal year ends.

But Republicans contended that existing weather satellites can do the job. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) distributed a list of Internet addresses that already carry real-time photos of Earth.

Space officials estimated initially that the Triana project would cost between $20 million and $50 million, but the projection now is $75 million. Launching the satellite could cost as much as $121 million more.