Posted by Tina
You’d be hard-pressed to find an American who doesn’t know that the “S” in NASA stands for “Space.” Since the race to the moon in the 1960s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been one of the most storied agencies in the U.S. government. Now, under President Obama, its mission is changing — and space isn’t part of the story. ** “When I became the NASA administrator, [Obama] charged me with three things,” NASA head Charles Bolden said in a recent interview with the Middle Eastern news network al-Jazeera. “One, he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.” (emphasis mine)
Michael Giffin, former NASA Chief, had this to say:
“I have championed the use of NASA as a powerful diplomatic and inspirational tool for U.S. policy writ large,” Griffin says. “But the way NASA achieves those goals is by doing great things. NASA does those things that make people all over the world say, ‘Wow.’ If NASA is making people say, ‘Wow,’ then they want to be part of what we do. That’s NASA’s role — it’s to do those things that make other people want to join us.” ** “When I see reports in the media excoriating Charlie for this position, that blame is misplaced. It belongs with the administration. That is where policy for NASA is set. The NASA administrator does not set policy for NASA, the administrator carries it out. ** “This is not about personalities, it is about the intellectual content of the policy, which I find to be bankrupt.”
So the main focus for the head of NASA should be kids and diplomacy? What do you think? We’ve been using the space program to inspire kids to become involved in science from the beginning but should NASA Chief Charles Bolden be doing Hillary Clinton’s job? Is this shift toward diplomatic outreach a good use of our tax dollars for scientific advancement and space exploration? Or do you think NASA should continue according to its original scientific and inspirational mission, focusing on things like this: