Making the NAC Less Accessible to the Public

NASA Advisory Council Meeting, 12 October 2006

“All U.S. citizens desiring to attend the NASA Advisory Council Meeting at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) must provide their full name, company affiliation (if applicable), place of birth, and date of birth to the GSFC Security Office no later than the close of business on October 4, 2006.”

Science and NASA – Speech by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin

“It is simply a fact that the NAC subcommittee meetings are open to, and heavily attended by, NASA managers and key staff. Anyone who attends is instantly privy to all advice and discussion that is aired, or which is working its way through the system. An obviously good idea can be adopted by a NASA manager without waiting for a formal recommendation. The public including the media is present for final Council deliberation and action. There is no “dilution” of advice whatsoever.”

Editor’s note: U.S. citizens are supposed to be able to attend these meetings simply by walking in on the day of the event. They are not required, by FACA regulations to provide advance notice of their intent to attend. NASA is now instituting new security requirements which can only serve to make access to this FACA meeting more difficult – and thus making the “advice” that this committee gives to the Administrator more difficult to hear. For all practical purposes any taxpayer showing up at GSFC on the day of this meeting would be denied access – even though the NAC has not declared this to be a “closed” meeting per FACA regs.

Editor’s 15 Sep update: Meanwhile the FAA seems to have found a way to hold the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (also a FACA committee) in their DC headquarters without requiring a week’s advance notice by U.S. citizens.