State senators want to explore why universities in Florida, both private and public, fail to attract the “Tim Tebows” of space research when NASA has spent a half century launching rockets from the Sunshine State.

Members of the Military Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security Committee agreed Monday to invite presidents of universities and colleges in Florida to explain what is needed to get their schools more involved in the space industry.

Sen. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, who chairs the committee, said the state must attract the “Tim Tebows” of scientific research if it wants to land a bigger share of the estimated $25 billion that NASA will contract for scientific space research in the next five years.

Tebow, the University of Florida Heisman Trophy recipient, has so far outpaced the projections of football analysts that questioned his football skills on the professional level, having led the Denver Broncos to five straight wins.

“There are 20 states when it comes to space research that are ahead of Florida,” Altman said. “If we want to be a space state, we need to take a look at what is happening and why we are not performing better nationally. I think part of the problem has been people assume we’re a major player and this scientific work slipped by us.”

A National Science Foundation report in October placed the University of Florida 23rd in terms of federal research and development expenditures. The University of South Florida stood at 65, the University of Miami at 77 and Florida State University at 95.

The Baltimore, Md.-based Johns Hopkins University topped the list.

At the time, committee members noted that the state has done a good job recruiting life-science research businesses such as Burnham Medical Research Institute in Orlando, Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies in Port St. Lucie, and Scripps Florida and the Max Planck Florida Institute, both in Jupiter. But to succeed in the aerospace field, from designing aircraft parts to satellite construction, the talent needs to be grown.

Committee Vice Chair Sen. Maria Lorts Sachs, D-Delray Beach, suggested sending a letter to the Florida congressional delegation asking why federal dollars for NASA go to schools in other states.

“There is no reason why we are losing the money and the high-tech jobs,” Sachs said. “I’m sure the regents would love to have the money.”

However, committee members Sens. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, Jim Norman, R-Tampa, and Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, said the federal research dollars are allocated based on merit rather than politics and the problem is simply that space hasn’t been the focus of university research in Florida.

“If we don’t have the technical expertise, we can’t expect the money to be spent in Florida,” Jones said. “If we didn’t capitalize on space, shame on us and the research system.”

However, he added that other states may make the same reference to Florida’s agricultural research getting more dollars.

"I know USF is bringing in all sorts of dollars in various fields,” Norman said.

The senators didn’t talk funding because the item was brought up as a workshop discussion with no bill attached.

Bennett said the non-Florida schools attracting the most research money, such as Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, California Institute of Technology and Colorado State University, offer better programs.

“I don’t think these dollars are sent to Cal Tech just because they’re nicer people – it appears to be that's where the qualified people are who can do this,” Bennett said. “I think the fact we’re not getting the money is a reflection of our education system.”

Of the 104 science missions undertaken by NASA in the past decade, only eight involved universities located in Florida.

Atlman said even those eight missions are misleading, as the Florida schools -- Florida State University, University of Florida, University of Central Florida and the University of Miami -- were not the primary schools contracted by the federal government for the work.