"Science" on NASA Science

NASA Redux editorial, Science (subscription)

“Bashing the president on his new exploration vision is probably a waste of breath. A more effective approach would be to insist that exploration is what NASA’s science is all about, whether studying the oceans, extrasolar stars, or a Mars ravine, and whether it’s done by humans or robots. Finding more money will be hard in a domestic discretionary budget squeezed by growing entitlements and the effect of the tax cuts. But the White House and the Congress must recognize that NASA’s superb and diverse research programs should benefit from the president’s vision rather than pay a price for it. Let’s hope that Griffin, who once observed that the competition between robotic and human missions should not become a zero-sum game, will summon that same wisdom and diplomacy to keep the best science at NASA intact and thriving.”