Former astronaut Glenn criticizes Bush space plan

[w4rma]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) -- U.S. space pioneer John Glenn said on Thursday that President George W. Bush's space exploration plan "pulls the rug out from under our scientists" and might waste too much money to ever put astronauts on Mars.
...
The octogenarian space pioneer's most cutting comments were reserved for NASA's plans to gut the International Space Station of a once-ambitious research agenda, limiting science only to studies applicable to the moon and Mars program.

"We have projects that are planned or in the queue now, projects that people -- academics and laboratories and companies -- have spent millions of dollars to get ready," Glenn said. "That pulls the rug out from under our scientists who placed their faith in NASA, and our scientists within NASA who devoted years and years to their work."

Glenn said basic research had always been part of the human space flight program, dating back to his own three-orbit flight in 1962: "We tried to get everything we could on to every flight back in those days."

He said cutting the research component of the space station program would save only about $2.5 million.
...
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/03/04/glenn.space.reut/index.html

[DemoTex]

1. Godspeed, John Glenn.

But Bu$h never listens to the experts.

[renegade000]

2. i got a personal note from him

it was pretty cool. my aunt is a flight attendant, and she got john glenn to sign a random piece of scratch paper for me.

[alittlelark]

3. Wasn't Glenn one of the people targeted in the

NORTHWOODS PLAN??

[Judi Lynn]

5. Absolutely right!

(snip)
The documents show "the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up and approved plans for what may be the most corrupt plan ever created by the U.S. government," writes Bamford.

The Joint Chiefs even proposed using the potential death of astronaut John Glenn during the first attempt to put an American into orbit as a false pretext for war with Cuba, the documents show.

Should the rocket explode and kill Glenn, they wrote, "the objective is to provide irrevocable proof … that the fault lies with the Communists et all Cuba ."
(snip)

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/jointchiefs_010501.html

It would show we've had some dangerous, vicious people around for a long time.

[pacifictiger]

4. isn't it horrific that they're

diverting this money to militarize space!