Politics Is Poisoning NASA’s Ability to Do What It Needs to Do
By Phil Plait
Well, I told you so.
When Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was made head of the Senate committee in charge of NASA’s funding, I (and many others) were appalled. Cruz is a science denier, flatly claiming global warming isn’t happening.
This is an issue, since many of NASA’s missions are directly focused on examining the amount, extent, and impact of that warming. And rightly so.
While Cruz may not be able to directly impact NASA’s budget, he can certainly make things difficult on the agency and pressure others to change NASA’s emphasis. He made this very clear last week when he held a meeting with NASA’s Administrator Charles Bolden as a witness. Cruz opened the session asking Bolden about NASA’s core mission, a clear shot at the idea that they should be looking outwards, not down.
Throughout the session, Cruz downplayed Earth science, claiming that NASA has lost focus on exploring space. It’s clear everything he was saying came from his stance of global warming denial.
And that is utter nonsense, to be incredibly polite. Pure and simple.
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http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/03/16/nasa_and_congress_we_must_get_politics_out_of_nasa.html
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They bitch mightily about the idea of wasting money on human space exploration, especially when that money could be going to line the pockets of the plutocracy.
This is a classic GOP bad-faith argument. They don't want there to be a NASA. Just like every other aspect of government that isn't shoveling money directly into the bank account of some private corporation.
