The Distance NASA Travelled Over 48 Years

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An interesting take, albeit from a Conservative perspective, by Jim Prevor in his post at the Weekly Standard, The Distance NASA Travelled Over 48 Years. He makes a good case of how far the apple has fallen from the tree between the NASA of the current Administration and the agency that accomplished so much over nearly 5 decades.

Prevor concludes by noting, “One listens to this interview and remembering this is the United States of America we are talking about, one is tempted to say the piece is an absolutely nutty story, one wants to say it is ridiculous, even bizarre, a fraud.

“Then one realizes it is real, it is where we have traveled in the last 48 years, and one shudders.”

Well said.

But it is important to remember that the NASA Administrator, however strange his comments may sound, has not gone rogue from the Obama Administration. Everyone can be sure that he is stating, as he understands it, the space policy of the President at whose pleasure he serves. And it is doubtful that his views are solitary at NASA’s highest ranks or within the White House. As former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin stated, “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.”

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