This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
Culture

Penn & Teller: Bullsh*t on NASA: Aptly Named?

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
July 2, 2008

Editor’s note: A few months ago I got an inquiry from the producers of Penn & Tell’s Showtime series “Bullsh*t” asking if I would be interested in being interviewed or offer assistance on a show about NASA. I declined.

At the time, they said “We’re going to basically say that NASA has been in decline since the Apollo missions, some of the current plans (moon base!) are bogus, and worst of all the culture of NASA created a safety situation that ended in the horrible deaths of the Challenger and Columbia astronauts.”

The underlying intent of this show is obvious in its title. Their producer’s email made it crystal clear. They are just looking for filler to edit and parse so as to illustrate their forgone conclusion. On some topics, I find myself in complete agreement with their lampooning. But given that their going-in premise with regard to NASA is negative, they are certain to find what they are looking for. Here is an innocuous preview clip.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.