Emperor Nerobama really is unbelievable. Now, we learn from NASA Administrator Bolden,
in statements confirmed by the Oval Office, that his boss wants the agency to
do three things: "re-inspire children to want to get into science
and math," "expand our international [sic] relationships," and "engage much more with dominantly Muslim
nations to help them feel good [sic]
about their historic contribution to science ... and math and
engineering." Doesn't "explore
space" belong on this list?
Planetary scientist and former astronaut Tom Jones has written of the
NASA:
Its shuttle program will end early next year, and the space agency has no clear, approved plan to build the shuttle’s successor…. Due to inattention and lack of funding by our policy-makers, American [sic] astronauts next year will be forced to reach the Station via Russian rockets, at least through 2015…. Once the shuttle retires, [the] NASA doesn’t know when U.S. rockets will again launch astronauts from Cape Canaveral, or whether those rockets will be privately run, or government-owned, like the shuttle…. Even less certain are the means for [the] NASA to reach deep space, … and when American [sic] explorers might be ready for such a journey.
As
you know if you read The Heavens That Interest Me Number Only Seven, I
consider penetration of the cosmos to be largely a waste; if we're even going
to have a NASA, though, it ought to
serve the purpose for which it was originally intended.
