The space shuttle and International Space Station — nearly the whole of the U.S. manned space program for the past three decades — were mistakes, NASA chief Michael Griffin said Tuesday.
Finally someone in power in the Aerospace community willing to admit turning away from the Moon was a major error. And it was the NASA Administrator no less. This man has guts. This is what we needed to change NASA culture to go forward without the blinders which make safe operation impossible. This admission is getting down to bed rock honesty and breaking the denial that has plagued NASA for decades. Also see Florida Today and .
Thank you and Congratulations Dr. Griffin.
Mike Griffin speaks for the President. The reactions take one (or more) of three directions: Griffin is unable to articulate his ideas clearly; there is a serious disconnect between stated White House policy and its implementation; or the White House no longer (and perhaps never did) care about space.
First, being a head of an agency doesn't mean you speak for the President. There are very few people who do that. An agency head saying that a mistake was made decades ago by the previous management of that agency bears absolutely no bearing on the President or his policies. In fact the Presidents Policy has been to reverse the error for the last 18 Months. Second, Griffin articulated his ideas very clearly. Third, I see no disconnect at all with the White House. Forth, NASA is only 1% of the Federal Budget, NASA should be well run enough and be able to form appropriate goals and implement them well enough that the president doesn't have to care, except when he is taking credit for their successes.
I talked to Dr. Griffin last night at the Women in Aerospace (WIA) awards reception before this story came out , I wish I had known about it so I could have thanked him personally for his courage. We talked about NASA's Lunar planning,, he said they are working on the plan for the lunar surface now, he thought energy was among the justifications for going to the Moon. I suggested that Mid January would be a prime time to push the lunar energy justification in the Media as that is when the sky high heating bills will hit, estimated to be 250% of last years. I also suggested that NASA should establish a strong community of groups interested in using the Moon so that it is less likely that the return to the Moon will be victim of the next election.
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