Astrobiology Funding Update

Funds for hunting extraterrestrial life restored by NASA, New Scientist

“Researchers said NASA was responding to protests from scientists and lawmakers and called for the pressure to continue. “It seems to me that instead of going away quietly with what we were given, we ought to be emboldened to ask for more,” said Jill Tarter, [SETI Institute].”

Editor’s note: At a “NASA Town Meeting” held on Monday night at this conference, Carl Pilcher said – several times – when asked why these budget cuts were made in the first place, that he did not know wny and that he was “pleading ignorance”. When pushed by several questioners to elaborate, he said “that’s all I can tell you”. This was rather bizzare – and insulting – to many in attendance since Pilcher actually requested that this “NASA Town Meeting” be held in the first place. The reason the event was requested was so that Pilcher could address this specific issue. Yet he could not even explain how the decision to cut Astrobiology was made – or why it was made. Either Pilcher was unable to get a formal answer from his boss, Mary Cleave; he did not bother to ask; or he knows but is not allowed to say. Regardless of the reason, Pilcher’s non-response fell flat on the hundreds in attendance.