OK, but my question is: Is NASA the only federal agency that is off limits to criticism since its budgest and direction come from congress, or are all Federal agencies off limits to criticism for the same reason?
I don't like NASA. They offered me a job once and I found something else to do. They are possibly slightly more interesting as a gov't agency than, say, the Bureau of Land Management. It would be horribly misleading to think that NASA is in the business of space development. If space development is the goal repeal the Treaty. But NASA's job is to maintain preeminence in space. That's it, and it's not much considering the competition so far.