NASA Official Softens Claim Muslim Outreach Is 'Foremost' Mission

"Bob Jacobs, NASA's assistant administrator for public affairs, told Fox News on Tuesday that Bolden was speaking of priorities when it came to "outreach" and not about NASA's primary missions of "science, aeronautics and space exploration." Still, he said, "international cooperation and collaboration is important to the future of space exploration." Jacobs said he will let the administrator's comments "speak for themselves," but said it was unfortunate those comments are now being viewed through a "partisan prism."

Keith's note: From now on I think NASA should just send Bob Jacobs on these trips and not Charlie Bolden. This would certainly cut down on all of the confusion.

Krauthammer Bashes Obama's Infantile NASA Muslim Outreach Program, Fox via Gateway Pundit

"This is a new of fatuousness. NASA was established to get America into space and to keep us there. This idea of 'feel good about your past' scientific achievements is the worst kind of group therapy, psycho-babble, imperial condescension and adolescent diplomacy. If I didn't know that Obama had told him this, I'd demand the firing of Charles Bolden."

A Muslim star project, New York Post

"Houston, we have a problem -- Muslim countries are feeling insecure. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, interviewed yesterday on the Arabic news station al-Jazeera, said President Obama had given him three missions, the "foremost" of which was to improve relations with the Muslim world."

NASA's new mission: Building ties to Muslim world, San Francisco Examiner

"NASA is not only a space exploration agency," Bolden concluded, "but also an Earth improvement agency." At the same time, Bolden gave a bleak assessment of the space part of NASA's mission. More than 40 years after the first moon landing, he told al-Jazeera, the U.S. can no longer reach beyond Earth's orbit without assistance from abroad. "We're not going to go anywhere beyond low Earth orbit as a single entity," Bolden said. "The United States can't do it." Its space initiatives junked, its administrator rhapsodizing about helping Muslims "feel good" about themselves: That is the new NASA."

Since when did it become NASA's "mission" to "improve relations with the Muslim world"?, SIster Toldjah

"Would be very interesting to find out just how much this self-esteem "outreach" effort is costing the American people. Anywhere in the stratsosphere of as much as Project Constellation cost before it was effectively axed by this administration, costing along with it thousands of jobs?"

Tuesday's intriguing people: Charles Bolden, CNN

"The website NASA Watch reported Bolden's interview comments a few days ago, but they seem to have hit the fan in a larger-scale Monday. Bryan York of The San Francisco Examiner wrote in response: "From moon landings to promoting self-esteem: It would be difficult to imagine a more dramatic shift in focus for an agency famous for reaching the heavens."

NASA seeks better ties with Muslim world, Federal News Radio

"Bolden denied, however, that he was taking on any kind of diplomatic role. "Not at all. It's not a diplomatic anything," he said."

Keith's note: News of this video is spilling off of Drudge Report and the fringe websites over into mainstream. This is just a quick snapshot of what is being posted out there. In essence, the question seems to be, why is Charlie Bolden off talking to Middle East folks when he is laying off thousands of Americans back home? And is talking to one group of foreign nations more important than focusing on what NASA is supposed to be doing? I will be the first one to suggest that NASA needs to vastly expand its sphere of relevance and inclusiveness well beyond traditional boundaries. But the way this comes off in Bolden's comments on Al Jazeera, working with Muslim countries is more important than virtually everything else that NASA is CHARTERED to do ... more important than reinvigorating our space industrial base, protecting the Earth, doing quality science, enhancing aviation, exploring the universe, etc.

Charlie Bolden was on an overtly diplomatic mission during this trip. To deny (as he did) on Al Jazeera that he was doing so is an insult to the intelligence of everyone concerned. Bolden has more on his plate than he can handle at NASA right now. The best thing he can do for America's space program is stay home and focus on his NASA responsibilities and not go off on TDY with the State Department.

On Al Jazeera, Bolden said "and third, and perhaps foremost, [President Obama] wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering."...

One small problem: there is no mention of this priority on Muslim nations that Bolden mentions in the full text of the new National Space Policy nor in the Fact Sheet issued on the policy, nor is there any mention in this briefing with State Department officials. However, the policy does say "Expand international cooperation on mutually beneficial space activities to: broaden and extend the benefits of space; further the peaceful use of space; and enhance collection and partnership in sharing of space-derived information" but it does not specifically and preferentially call out one subset of the world's nations for special attention as Bolden has done.

If Bolden is making these statements about the three goals that he is working on (above all others), one would think that these three goals would resonate and be consistent with the nation's avowed space policy. If he is not saying things that reflect this policy, then either he is freelancing (again) on things, or one has to question whether the National Space Policy, as announced, actually does reflect the nation's true space policy or just a portion thereof.

Go ahead and comment folks. But if the racist, bigoted remarks starts to show up again I'll shut comments off on this posting - just as I did on the earlier one.

Charlie Bolden: Stealth Middle East Diplomat?, earlier post

First-Hand Look: One Family's Unforgettable Zero Gravity Holiday, Space.com

"Like many American families across the country, the Stern family of Colorado celebrated the Fourth of July holiday together on Sunday. But instead of a traditional barbecue or picnic, the family took to the skies for a novel weightless daytrip on a Zero Gravity Corporation (Zero-G) aircraft. Here, journalist and eldest Stern daughter Sarah Stern describes the experience of the July 4th trip, which was arranged as part of a project led by her father - planetary scientist Alan Stern - investigating the scientific uses of zero gravity and suborbital spaceflights at the Southwest Research Institute."

The ability to make real-time decisions based on pressure, temperature, or flow measurements while a process is running can provide significant advantages in a measurement and control system. These advantages can be expressed in different ways such as cost savings through improved resource management, or reduced reliability upon mobile workers. While measurement data can be used to dynamically control a process, it can also be displayed over a network to allow remote monitoring of the process status in real time. Rising pressures, temperatures, or vibration intensity can easily be adjusted if the appropriate personnel are aware of faulty conditions. As data is collected for process control or a SCADA system, it can also be archived for future reference when a review of process trends could provide additional improvements.

Keith's note: Appearing on Fox News, Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan just called on Charlie Bolden to resign. In essence Cernan said that if Bolden believes in what he was directed to say that he should resign and if he does not believe in this then he should also resign.

Written Testimony of Eugene A. Cernan

"We (Armstrong, Lovell and myself) have come to the unanimous conclusion that this budget proposal presents no challenges, has no focus, and in fact is a blueprint for a mission to "nowhere."

Video, Fox News

CERNAN: "Sometimes its hard to figure out Charlie. I some times don't know if he says what he believes or believes what he says, quite frankly. He's a good man, I respect him - I have for a long time - and he's a friend. But if he really believes what he is quoted as saying about this particular subject ... I hate to say this but I don't think Charlie knows or understands what the leadership role of the NASA Administrator really is. International cooperation is one thing. But in the manner in which he put it - the three major objectives in his leadership role as NASA Administrator ... it just does not fit in what NASA was designed - what the charter of NASA really is. If he believes this - and I hate to say this is - its pretty strong and heavy - then I think we ought to ... that leveler heads ought to call for his resignation because that is not what his job is. And if he doesn't believe it, he ought to stand up if he doesn't support the president' s proposal ..."

Obama's NASA Chief: Muslim Outreach is My Foremost Mission, Rush Limbaugh

"RUSH: That's right. That's precisely why it's wrong. Obama is the new chief executive and all of America's wrong. The original mission statement of America is wrong. That's the Constitution, and that's under assault, too. Not just the initial mission statement of NASA. If he's going to run around and say that NASA's purpose now is to spread science and math understanding to Muslim countries and to recognize their contributions to math and science, then you can imagine what this bunch thinks of the Constitution."

NASA's new mission -- make Muslim countries 'feel good', Glenn Beck

"GLENN: But imagine how condescending that is to say that NASA's going to go over and say, look who's been smart in the past, look what you've done. Who can take an abacus and turn it upside down? You can. I mean, that is the most condescending thing I've ever heard. Make them feel good about their history. And isn't that so very progressive. Make them feel good. That's the charge of NASA? That's what we're doing with NASA money?"

Does the 'S' In NASA Suddenly Stand for 'Stupid'?, Opinion, Fox News

"So don't fault Bolden, fault his commander in chief. Every time conservatives underscore the idea that Obama is not a Muslim, he does everything within his power to cozy up to the very powers that hate our guts and dominate the Muslim world."

@waynehale: "Updated my blog a few minutes ago announcing my retirement at the end of the month. Its been great!"

All Good Things, Wayne Hale's NASA Blog

"Working at NASA has been a lifelong dream; I often tell people that I would have paid them to let me in the door rather than the other way around. It has been a privilege and an honor to work in this place and with these people. The achievements that we have made together will have lasting significance for all humankind. I want to especially thank my many wonderful co-workers who are so dedicated, innovative, and hard working. I wish them every success in the future with all my heart."

Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle Passes Key NASA Milestone

"The Orion crew exploration vehicle has successfully completed the Phase 1 Safety Review of NASA's Human Rating Requirements for space exploration in low Earth orbit and beyond. The NASA/Lockheed Martin Orion team earned the approval from NASA's Constellation Safety & Engineering Review Panel (CSERP) upon completion of the review, an essential requirement for the Orion program to move forward to the Critical Design Review and Phase 2 Safety Review."

State Department Daily Press Briefing, NASA Excerpts, 6 July 2010

"QUESTION: Can you speak to why the NASA administrator was doing outreach to the Muslim community? There was an article over the weekend.

MR. TONER: It's an excellent question. I do not have an answer for you on that. I can try to - or I encourage you to talk to our NASA colleagues. I mean, obviously, the new space policy has a more international approach, and we unveiled that, I believe, from the White House last week or a week ago - yeah, a week ago Monday, today. Today's Tuesday.

QUESTION: Isn't that the role of the State Department and not the space agency, obviously?

MR. TONER: Well, I mean, I think it's an interagency cooperative effort. And so obviously - but I - as to specific comments today, I think I saw it on TV, I didn't listen to them closely enough to have any response for you. I can just say that part of the new approach to space - this Administration's new approach to space is to engage in international partners and that would - obviously, that would include in the Muslim world."

Keith's note: Gee, of all places, why would anyone ask the State Department about a recent visit by a senior Administration official to several mideast countries - at the request of the White House?

State Department Officials Afraid To Use Real Names When Talking About Space Policy, earlier post

Beam NASA up from this order, editorial, Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)

"The president is known to be a fan of the old "Star Trek" series, which frequently moralized on the pitfalls of "imperial condescension." Mr. Bolden may find some in the Muslim world more intransigent than a Klingon as he attempts to launch them into the space age."

NASA - no longer "The Right Stuff", opinion, Sussex Sun

"Wouldn't it be interesting to find out what Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldren (sic), or any of the other former NASA astronauts think about the new goals established for NASA by the president of the United States?"

Retro Rockets, opinion, Washington Times

"Was this the big liftoff? Well, no. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden elaborated on the agency's "priority" to reach out to Muslim countries during a July 1 appearance on the Al Jazeera network. Conservatives were vexed, and the White House predictably sprang to his defense. But the offending glare is not new, if a speech Mr. Bolden made June 15 at the American University in Cairo is any gauge."

Ramirez Editorial Cartoons (A take on an iconic image)

NASA logo makeovers: New Arabic Sensitivity Administration

"MichelleMalkin.com readers have answered the call of duty! Last night, inspired by reader Duke, I put out a call for NASA logo redesign Photoshops to mock Team Obama's Muslim-pandering makeover of the space program. Entries are pouring in to my mailbox. Had to share some of the best and most pointed images with you right away. Pick your favorites:"

Video: Obama's NASA mission to Muslims, Fox News

NASA's Final Frontier: The Muslim World, Fox News

Yet again, an Obama official says "Muslim," right-wing media freak-out follows, Media Matters

"Of course, since an Obama official made completely noncontroversial comments about reaching out to the Muslim world in order to gain contributions to the fields of science and technology, the right-wing media freaked out."

NASA: Mission to Mecca?, Washington Post

"But I still found Bolden's comment troubling, for a reason of my own: since when is it U.S. government policy to offer or refuse cooperation with various nations based on the religion their people practice? Last time I checked, the Constitution expressly forbid the establishment of religion. How can it be consistent with that mandate and the deeply held political and cultural values that it expresses for the U.S. government to "reach out" to another government because the people it rules are mostly of a particular faith?"

Keith's 1 July note: NASA's New AA for Public Affairs is David Weaver. He starts work on 19 July at NASA HQ. Details to follow.

Van Hollen chief of staff tapped for NASA post, Gazette.net

"President Barack Obama has appointed Rep. Christopher Van Hollen's top aide to be the chief spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration."

Course Correction Keeps New Horizons on Path to Pluto

"A short but important course-correction maneuver kept New Horizons on track to reach the "aim point" for its 2015 encounter with Pluto. The deep-space equivalent of a tap on the gas pedal, the June 30 thruster-firing lasted 35.6 seconds and sped New Horizons up by just about one mile per hour. But it was enough to make sure that New Horizons will make its planned closest approach 7,767 miles (12,500 kilometers) above Pluto at 7:49 a.m. EDT on July 14, 2015."

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 4 July 2010

"At 12:17pm EDT, Progress M-06M(38P) docked successfully to the SM (Service Module) aft port under KURS autopilot control, followed by a final DPO post-contact thrusting burn, docking probe retraction and hook closure ("sborka") after motion damp-out while the ISS was in free drift for ~20 min (12:17pm-12:37pm). At "hooks closed" signal, the SM returned to active attitude control, maneuvering the ISS to LVLH TEA (local vertical/local horizontal Torque Equilibrium Attitude) at ~12:37pm."

"Bolden: I am here in the region - its sort of the first anniversary of President Barack Obama's visit to Cairo - and his speech there when he gave what has now become known as Obama's "Cairo Initiative" where he announced that he wanted this to become a new beginning of the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world. When I became the NASA Administrator - before I became the NASA Administrator - he charged me with three things: One was that he wanted me to re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, that 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 predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering."

Question: Are you in some sort of diplomatic role .. to win hearts and minds?

Bolden: NO NO, not at all. Its not a diplomatic anything. What it is - is that it is trying to expand our outreach so that we get more people who can contribute to the things that we do - the international Space Station is as great as it is because we have a conglomerate of about 15 plus nations who have contributed something to that partnership that has made it what it is today ..."

Editor's note: I have shut off comments on this post. I am tired of reading hate language that people have been trying to post. This will not be tolerated on NASA Watch.

Progress 38 Docking With Space Station Delayed Due to Loss of Telemetry

"Docking for the ISS Progress 38 has been delayed due to a loss of telemetry. Flight controllers have reported the resupply craft flew past the International Space Station. Managers are working to determine the next course of action before resuming docking activities."

From Astro_Wheels: "Best Caption Contest - I am floating through the transfer hatch to my position in the Soyuz capsule, all suited and ready to take 'Olympus' for a spin around the block for re-docking. Would love to hear your ideas for a caption, maybe "Did you guys see the keys"?..."

Submit your suggestion here

NASA Updates Shuttle Target Launch Dates For Final Two Flights

"NASA is targeting approximately 4:33 p.m. EDT on Nov. 1 for the launch of space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission and 4:19 p.m. EST on Feb. 26, 2011, for the liftoff of shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The target dates were adjusted because critical payload hardware for STS-133 will not be ready in time to support the previously planned Sept. 16 launch. With STS-133 moving to November, STS-134 cannot fly as planned, so the next available launch window is in February 2011."

Hutchison Pleased with Short-Term Shuttle Extension to 2011 - Calls Move "An Important First Step"

"Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today said she was pleased to see NASA delay the launch of the space shuttle Discovery to November 1, 2010, and push back the scheduled launch of space shuttle Endeavour to February 26, 2011. Senator Hutchison has consistently stated that the President's NASA proposal should include a short-term stretch out of the shuttle program's remaining flights in order to protect the nation's $100 billion investment in the International Space Station."

Kosmas Statement on the Extension of Shuttle Program into 2011

"Today, following NASA's decision to extend the Space Shuttle program until at least February 2011, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) issued the following statement: "Today's news that the Shuttle program has been officially extended until at least February of next year is a welcome development that will help preserve jobs and ease the transition for the Space Coast. The extension shows the importance of our successful efforts to eliminate the hard deadline for Shuttle retirement, which would have ended the Shuttle program in September of this year."

"This video is of NASA Project M Lander free flight test at Armadillo Aerospace outside of Dallas. The lander launched on June 23rd 2010. This is the prototype of the lander that will launch a version of Robonaut on future exploratory missions."

Keith's note: This is an interesting project, to be certain - and Armadillo's involvement is innovative and is to be commended. But I am wondering how or why this project is being funded (and is building hardware) at a time when other ESMD lunar surface activities are grinding to halt (Altair etc.). Given that NASA has yet to decide what places it is (or is not) going to - with the Moon no longer being the core focus, it is a bit curious that JSC is planning to land something on the Moon in 2013 and refers to this hardware as something that "will launch" Robonaut. Not "might launch" or "could launch" or "if approved ..."

Also, it is a little weird that it is rather difficult to find anything detailed on this project at NASA.gov unless you happen to look at the Robonaut page at NASA JSC which has a link to a document titled "Landing a Humanoid Robot on the Moon in a 1000 Days "ProjectM". Curiously, this white paper is not even hosted at NASA.gov but rather is posted here at Scribd.com. You can also download it as a PDF here at SpaceRef.

It is also a little unusual that the NASAProjectM YouTube page is not listed as a channel on NASA's Official YouTube page. This is cool stuff - and you would think that the NASA.gov home page would be featuring it and that press releases would be issued each time that a successful test launch is completed.

Keith's note: NASA's New AA for Public Affairs is David Weaver. He starts work on 19 July at NASA HQ. Details to follow.

Zero Gravity Corporation's statement regarding the Office of Inspector General's June 18, 2010 Audit Report of NASA's Microgravity Flight Services

"It is important to note that the report highlights that the cost-effectiveness of maintaining the operations-ready status of the C-9 and currency of its crew has never been assessed. Since the primary threat to ZERO-G's service continuity to NASA is its own insufficient demand, NASA may be a contributor to this risk and should assess the benefit of continuing to invest in the C-9 versus restructuring the current contract with ZERO-G. To date, ZERO-G has invested over $1.5 million to improve its baseline commercial capability to meet NASA's requirements. Total net revenue from the past two years has not allowed ZERO-G to recoup its initial investment."

NASA OIG is Not Pleased With ZeroG, earlier post