Stinging report says NASA lost, lacks real sense of direction

msnbc.msn.com ^ | December 5, 2012 | Seth Borenstein

[wesagain]

NASA, the agency that epitomized the "Right Stuff," looks lost in space and doesn't have a clear sense of where it is going, an independent panel of science and engineering experts said in a stinging report Wednesday.

The report by a panel of the distinguished National Academy of Sciences doesn't blame the space agency; it faults the president, Congress and the nation for not giving NASA better direction. At the same time, it said NASA is doing little to further the White House's goal of sending astronauts to an asteroid.

In one withering passage, the panel said NASA's mission and vision statements are so vague and "generic" that they "could apply to almost any government research and development agency, omitting even the worlds 'aeronautics' or 'space.'"

The space shuttles were retired in 2011 and are now museum pieces. Few people are paying attention to the International Space Station, and American astronauts have to rely on Russian spaceships to get there and back. Meanwhile, rocket-building is being outsourced to private companies, and a commercial venture plans to send people to the moon by the end of the decade.

Academy panel member Bob Crippen, a retired NASA manager and astronaut who piloted the first space shuttle mission, said he has never seen the space .......

[wesagain]

Lack of direction? = lack of Director!

[A_Former_Democrat]

Gee, who woulda thought this when the Obama appointee said that “Muslim outreach” was the most important mission of NASA

Good grief. Idiots reign.

[Ken522]

I thought NASAs new mission was to promote the feelings of muslims ...

[Gay State Conservative]

Yet another consequence of having a “community organizer” in charge.

[Sybeck1]

Thirty years ago when Reagen was whipping the commies, I thought me would have at Mars by now.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Yep! More ‘American Exceptionalism’ to be castrated thanks to Obama.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

First thing Ubama and his fellow travelers did was gut NASA because it symbolizes competence and achievement.

That's racist.

[Captain7seas]

Direction? NASA has plenty. Its directed by Agenda 21. Makes perfect sense. We shut down our manned space flight program and now PAY the RUSSIAN’S $50 - 70 million PER astronaut to launch them to what is as far as I am concerned is OUR space station.

Re-distribution of wealth even in space.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

The main reason that NASA has had problems defining its mission is because all of the scientists know that the best use of funds would be on probes, but the politicians and idiots in the public want funds spent on human conquest of space.

Unless and until the politicians and public come to the realization that we can get a lot more done with probes than humans, mission definition problems will continue to be a problem.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Glad they point out “the president” - after all, he basically ended the shuttle, and so there is no real project to work on.

Mixed feelings about this, anyway.

What’s so terrible about “private” ventures for rockets and space tourism?

We had reason to be proud of our NASA, but is it really necessary? Do we really need to have the gov in charge of this, never mind every thing else?

[the OlLine Rebel]

Good point.

[rbg81]

Next stop: LBGT astronuts.

[chessplayer]

Well, no kidding, considering obama is doing everything he can do to destroy NASA.

[Ron C.]

We have a REAL problem that NASA ought to spend time and money on - cleaning up our own near-earth junk piles of old used up satellites that pose a large and growing problem. There are two big junk-piles up there, one above the equator and one on the opposite side of the earth below the equator. Just the money spent on keeping track of this mess would almost suffice to clean it up!

Sure a lot of the space junk in orbit around earth does eventually come down, but a lot more of it keeps accumulating causing increasing problems and danger to launching and returning vehicles - as well as humans on earth!

They could use the project to develop a reusable space tractor that would come in handy around Mars, or proposed asteroid mining.

But, every time the proliferation of space-junk comes up, it's always dropped as too much work to do. Better to just let it grow - get more dangerous, and fall wherever and whenever nature leads it to. One day, a big chunk of it might fall in a big city and take out a few hundred people.

Launch the space tractor - grab the thing and take it to the space recycle bin that NASA could build. Hell, the Libs are all for recycling, aren't they?

[Vendome]

That’s just stoopit and a bald faced lie.

There are the largest Moslem outreach agency in Amerika...per Herr Obama’s edict...

[Dallas59]

Muslims in Space...

[Chode]

[moovova]

Somebody could help NASA out by stepping outside and pointing up at the sky.

[Gator113]

NASA’s Director, Charlie Bolden, who thought NASA’s mission included making Muslims feel good about their history, is a very good example of the direction that NASA has..... the wrong direction.

Until Obama lovers like Bolden are out of the loop and until Obama and the democrats are out of power, NASA is a waste of time and money.