NASA Flew by the Moon, but Behind the Scenes, Its Science Is a Chaotic Mess

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• chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  So, just to make it clear here, this is an Opinion piece.

  The core argument that the author makes is that NASA has played too much into politics and is forgetting the science.

  However, the evidence that the author presents is that when NASA Administrator Jared Issacman was asked about climate change, he said:

  for NASA to assemble scientists and put out papers on politically charged issues, whether or not this is an impending climate catastrophe, is not helpful to the broader NASA mission.

  And I get it, that can be a very damning thing to read if you take it at face value and out of context. Here is the actual context from the article in question:

  When there is a market beyond just NASA for a service, you should strongly look in that direction, because every dollar we spend building bespoke Earth observation, or even at this point space weather satellites, is a dollar that comes away from, like, a planetary science mission, your next Dragonfly, which no one else is going to do. There are no mass-produced assembly lines of satellites for Titan right now, but there sure are for Earth observation. I mean, not just SpaceX, right, Planet, Black Sky, and others.

  Second, I would just say, you know, earth sciences has strong bipartisan support. … Because it matters to agriculture and floods and wildfires, real humanitarian issues. So we’re not getting out of that business.

  For NASA to assemble scientists and put out papers on politically charged issues, whether or not this is an impending climate catastrophe, is not helpful to the broader NASA mission.

  You have a previous administration that puts out on NASA letterhead the world is going to end, and then you have the next administration put out on NASA letterhead that this is all a hoax. How is that useful to anyone right now?

  What [NASA] should do is fund the data that benefits all humankind, and you put it out there and let people draw their conclusions.

  And that doesn’t quite fit the narrative that the author has built in their own world as well as the book they are selling, and probably has nothing to do with the fact that she quit the agency a few weeks ago and is now searching for independent funding, and so publishing NASA attack articles in every science magazine and periodical she can find… So, you know, believe whatever you want, but look for all the facts before trusting the Opinion articles of the NYT, or anyone really.

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