In a persuasive op-ed piece Obama’s space plan adds insult to injury, David MacKinnon makes the case that President Obama’s “major space policy speech,” as NASA Administrator called it, was not very convincing.
“As one who has consulted on and written extensively about our space program, worked in the White House and drafted a speech or two, I know shameless pandering filler when I read it.”
MacKinnon also touches on the use of Buzz Aldrin by the White House in an attempt to counter the claim by astronauts Armstrong, Lovell, and Cernan that the Obama space policy would cede U.S. leadership in human space flight and turn our nation into a mediocre space power for a generation or more. Unfortunately for the White House, Buzz’ performance during the many TV interviews the White House arranged for him didn’t go so well; in particular, the MSNBC and Fox Business interviews each unfolded like a slow-motion train wreck culminating with the interviewers saying good-bye even as Buzz continued to talk and showing-off his model of Phobos. But then, that sort of bad luck has been a pervasive and constant companion of the White House’s space policy.