Space experts brand Newt Gingrich's moon colony plan a 'vote-grabbing gimmick'





One space expert is having his say about Newt Gingrich's plans to build a lunar base, dismissing the presidential contender's out-of-this-world goal as nothing more than a political ploy.

Speaking to voters in Cocoa, Florida, last week, Gingrich promised to establish a permanent base on the moon by 2020 if he's elected president.

But as Gingrich showcases the groundwork for the moon base, one space expert in the Sunshine State believes the only thing Gingrich is laying down is political fodder.

Slipping: New polls show that Newt Gingrich, pictured here with his wife Callista, is starting to lose some ground in Fliorida, days before the state's primary

Gingrich, the former House speaker, said that he wanted to develop a robust commercial space industry in line with the airline boom of the 1930s, leading to a permanent base on the moon

Nasa's conceptual designs for a planned 'lunar outpost': The agency says that vehicles carrying four astronauts would shuttle to and forth to the moon, building permanent structures

Howard Chipman, CEO of Aurora Aerospace, a centre that offers astronaut training, told the New York Daily News that his claims are nothing more than a 'gimmick'.

Mr Chipman added: 'It's a cheap trick to get some Florida voters because of all of the space jobs here.'

Gingrich called the current state of the space programme 'a total mess, an embarrassment' at the Florida event.

He claims his plans for the final frontier would benefit 'science, tourism and manufacturing.'

On a different planet? Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich greets people during a meeting in Cocoa, Florida where he claimed he would put a permanent base on the moon by 2020 if elected

The Lunar Electric Rover is a small pressurized concept rover about the size of a pickup truck (with 12 wheels) and can house two astronauts for up to 14 days with sleeping and sanitary facilities

The idea of a moon base was an element of George W. Bush's policy and Nasa has detailed plans for a base which was to be constructed by 2024.

Those plans were later scrapped by the Obama administration.

With the Republican field now a four-man slugfest, Gingrich’s rivals have taken jabs at the former House speaker.

Late last week, Romney supporter and former presidential candidate John McCain told reporters: 'I think we ought to send Newt Gingrich to the moon and Mitt Romney to the White House.'

Responding to criticism that he was being 'grandiose', Gingrich told the Washington Post: 'The Wright Brothers standing at Kitty Hawk were grandiose. John F. Kennedy was grandiose.

Strong lead: Latest poll numbers show Mitt Romney leading Newt Gingrish by a staggering 15 points - 42 per cent compared to Gingrich's 27 per cent

'I accept the charge that I am grandiose and that Americans are instinctively grandiose.'

It comes as the latest polls out of Florida show Gingrich’s campaign struggling in Florida ahead of the fourth Republican primary on Tuesday.

The former governor of Massachusetts leads by a staggering 15 points - 42 per cent compared to Gingrich's 27 per cent. Rick Santorum is third with 16 per cent, while Ron Paul trails with 11 per cent.