I am disappointed beyond words:
Thoughts??
I tuned in just to see how people defended it... I'll wait.
Is it dumb?
Yes. Like most political decisions, this one doesn't seem to do anybody any real good, Muslim or western.
Is it being blown waaaaaay out of proportion?
...Sure seems that way to me. That article hovered on the edge of being inflammatory.
I checked my calendar to see if was April. Dissapointed is the word.
I don't really care who specifically they put in space, but I'd like them to focus on putting LOTS of people in space. Planet's getting full.
I could give them a list
All I have to say is near the bottom it mentions Dr. Griffin the former head of NASA and how he was complaining it about it. He is now a professor at my school and he is a horrible teacher and way over paid.
Edit: I was just kidding. I have more to say. See below.
Also I will say I don't see why it is such a big deal. The Muslim world did at one time contribute a great deal to science and medicine but I don't understand why this is even getting coverage there are much bigger problems with the USA right now.
96DXCivic wrote: Also I will say I don't see why it is such a big deal.
Because NASA's purpose isn't to spread goodwill and make cultural connections. It's to further scientific development, specifically through space exploration. It would be like if the EPA cut funding for addressing environmental problems and instead traveled to Japan to make connections between the Kabuki and American theater. They're just aren't related.
Looks like every single one of those people quoted in that article are tremendous shiny happy people. I'm in the camp that thinks its silly for NASA to do outreach anywhere. It isn't their job to connect with other countries; their job is do space-type things. Problem is, some "people" think Muslims are evil or some such bullE36 M3 so anything having to do with them is obviously a terrible idea.
However, I was pleased to see the word "apoplectic" being used 
It is undeniable that the Islamic world kept a huge quantity of learning intact, and improved on it, while Western Europe was, well, "resting" after the Roman Empire. Why do you think so many words like "algebra" and "zenith" sound so un-Latin? We just copied them from Arabic when we grew up enough to read books again. It may be a bit weird to send the NASA administrator out as an ambassador for science, but let's not forget that the people most interested in keeping Muslim kids ignorant are groups like the Taliban, who think any book-learning outside of the Koran is the fast track to ungodliness. If a speech by a NASA guy gets a couple of Muslim kids interested in science and proud of their heritage, and maybe less inclined to believe that school is pointless unless it's religious school, well, I'm OK with that.
96DXCivic wrote: Also I will say I don't see why it is such a big deal. The Muslim world did at one time contribute a great deal to science and medicine but I don't understand why this is even getting coverage there are much bigger problems with the USA right now.
I see this as a huge deal…one of the prime tenants of our country is freedom of and from religion yet this repurposing of NASA flies directly in the face of that. For every allocation of resources (contracts, training, seats on vehicles) that is influenced by someone’s Muslim heritage, there will be an equal and opposite denial of resources against someone that isn’t Muslim. This is just more redistribution bull E36 M3…if one person does better than another be it grades, scores on aptitude tests, project proposals, whatever, they should be rewarded REGARDLESS of their religious affiliation.
I can’t believe we’ve gotten to the point where blaring violations of fundamental laws and principles need to be pointed out. Um…religious discrimination, contrary to the ACLU’s apparent position, actually does pertain to every group not just those that are perceived to be disadvantaged.
I think the situation is being blown way out of proportion. I think it is a bit silly to use NASA to bridge the gap to religion, but space exploration and technology is and was a great way to advance ourselves as well as other countries in a cooperative format, like the ISS.
I do think it's ridiculous to try and bridge a gap between the Muslim world though as currently their values and goals in terms of space tech, are very different than ours. Our loyalties and cooperation, in a strictly technical and engineering forum, should only be with countries and people with whom we share goals and ideals.
Before we start sharing tech and research initiatives with countries, we should have a more than stable relationship built with them through other diplomatic channels.
Whew! When I saw the title I thought maybe they were doing away with the GTS series or something.
Maybe I'm not seeing what the big deal is. Granted, I only listened strait through the first five minutes of the interview, and then skimmed the rest to see what the topics were, and I didn't hear anything about shifting the focus off of scientific development. Here's what he talks about he talks about from where I listened:
Yeah, he made the one comment about "Reaching out to the Muslim world..." but that was hardly the focus of the interview. Most of it was about what the U.S. is going to do to expand our exploration capacities, in particular a need to improve our technological research and development.
He did talk about how NASA is not going it alone, not really being in direct competition with another power (the Soviets), like we used to, and how we're collaborating and drawing from the best intellect of other nations. However, he did talk about how national pride and a bit of friendly competition between countries can really help to push things forward.
So... the biggest focus shift I was hearing was to focus more beyond the ISS. And that, while doing that, we can include bright minds from other countries, focusing more on the Middle East, since we have not been drawing new minds from there.
Also good tactically, because if we don't want them to attack us, it makes since that we bring them the good parts of western civilization and help bolster their education and science.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Whew! When I saw the title I thought maybe they were doing away with the GTS series or something.
LOL! Yeah, that was actually the NASA I thought of initially too.
my head just exploded...sheesh
Yeah, the Arabs have done a lot for the world of science. The zero as a place holder, algebra, etc. But what have they done for us LATELY? As in, say, after the year 600AD? Anything? I think they did stop worshiping a space rock directly, but they still require a trip to the place it landed.
And I think it's great that NASA should have as their top priority getting the Moslems to feel better about the contributions their ancestors gave the world two thousand years ago. That's just what NASA should be doing, instead of silly things like space travel, rockets, The Moon, Mars, etc. Why spend money on that when instead we can spread around "good will and cheer?"
(And an Englishman invented Calculus.)
NASA has to do something to get their name in the news. The space shuttle is ancient. The Mars rover was so underfunded they ended up scaling it down to the size of a remote control car.
NASA needs money and resources to continue trying to get the human race out into the stars. Where we should be in case a catastrophic something happens here on earth.
I don't know if reaching out to muslims is the way to go. I don't see a point to it. But at least we're reading about NASA for something other than budget cuts.
What ever happened to Bush's trip planned trip to Mars?! 
We might be a good ways down that road if we had not thrown money in a hole in Asscrapistan and Iraq.
Seems pretty pointless, but I don't see the big deal. Can't be the cost of the trip, every time someone presses a button at NASA or (insert branch of military here) a LOT more is spent.
What I find interesting/scary/horrific is that's it's one of NASA's new directives.
So, once again what does NASA do?
I really thought it had something to do with space and not glad handing for the Pres.
NASA's non-space priorities have been berkeleyed since the early days.
Why do we launch spacecraft from a place on the east coast of Florida and have command and control in Houston ?
Because Lyndon Johnson wanted it that way.
In my opinion this is just some retarded pundits making a big deal of something small. Everyone is a berkeleying pundit and these idiots like Oberimen and Beck and dividing this country and instead of working on compromises, the two parties are acting like a bunch of shiny happy people and just fighting over any little thing. So while this country runs up a massive deficit, is struggling with a massive oil spill, have a large percent of people unemployed and without health insurance and etc, the politicians and media are arguing over stupid E36 M3 like this.
Hmmm- a) Reaches out to those elements of the Muslim world that are interested in science and thereby strengthens their position in the Muslim community. Those elements tend to be more rational and easier to talk to than religious zealots- strengthening the science block makes good sense (unless their name is A.Q. Khan ).
b) Little kids tend to be inspired by fellow countrymen that ride in rockets to do important scientific work. Might inspire a few to go that route and not go into bomb-making against the Great Satan.
c) Might get someone else to pay for their portion of the rocket ride, making it cheaper for the US. (I know, I know, I'm dreaming here)
When you think about it, seems like a clever idea. My $0.02
96DXCivic wrote: In my opinion this is just some retarded pundits making a big deal of something small.
That's the appearance to me too. It seems to be one comment getting blown WAAAY out of proportion. He talked for 10 minutes about expanding exploration farther into the solar system. He talked for 10 seconds about reaching out to Middle Eastern (not necessarily Islamic) nations. Clearly the Middle Eastern thing is the new direction of NASA.
Funny the NASA website mentions nothing about the Middle East in their Mission Statements or Mission Directorate: http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/what_does_nasa_do.html
Here's my interpretation of what they're thinking:
The U.S. isn't exploring space alone. It's become an international process. Some of the best advancements are coming from outside this country, and if we really care about progress (more than pride) we should foster those relations. We don't have any real scientific relations from Middle Eastern countries, but if we plant the seeds, they can probably produce some good results. At the same time, it makes them like America more.
Seems kind of like an international version of focusing the education and outreach programs on inner city schools. Sure, we've historically gotten a lot more great minds from higher class schools, but there are probably some clever people in overlooked areas that could produce some great ideas if given a chance. As a plus side, it will also make those people less likely to turn into delinquents and criminals.
Since I live right here in the NASA world, and all 4 of our company owners are big former NASA people (one a member of Werner Von Braun's team) I have a few comments. First, this administration has done tremendous damage to NASA and the subcontractors associated with it. There were hundreds of layoffs just this past few weeks alone, with many more to come due to project cancellations. One has a son that works mission control, and was told that when the last shuttle has gotten into orbit, he'll be handed his pink slip and told to hit the door.
While they can fund an array of wasteful projects like why college freshman girls hook up with the guys they do, why can't they fund ones that have a real benefit like the space program? It goes so much further than simply going somewhere in space. I can't stress enough how important having a good space program is to the nation on multiple levels.
While this area has branched out from it's NASA roots to a large degree, almost all of it is due to the NASA program. A huge jump in technology in areas like medicine, DNA, communications, materials engineering, aerodynamics, fuels, electronics and more owe almost all of their advances in some way to NASA.
So while Obama is cutting funding to NASA for their primary purpose and told their focus should be on reaching out to Muslims, it does tend to make them angry. They know what damage has been done and that the further dismantling is coming. What a sham.
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