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Keith's note: Why is a former NASA astronaut (i.e. employee) allowed to pose on his campaign website wearing the NASA logo? The last time I checked NASA was rather strict about the use of its logo - especially in situations where affiliations or endorsements might be implied by its use. And why is Hernandez using the same Twitter account - @Astro_Jose - with which he attracted over 200,000 followers when he was a NASA employee? (NASA's official @Astronauts account still follows @Astro_Jose). Did these followers agree to follow him because he was an astronaut or because he was going to run for Congress? the caveat "Astronaut(Ret) The opinions on this page do not reflect those of NASA" was only added after he had this huge NASA-generated following. Seems a little deceptive to me. Also ... why does his Twitter page say he lives in "Houston, TX" when he is running for a congressional seat in California?
And just in case some of you folks get on the bus to crazy town and try and read something into my comments, if I could, I'd vote for him. I just do not think NASA makes its policies clear on social media and use of NASA logos nor do I think that they apply these policies equally with regard to all of their employees - past and present.
Keith's update: I just got an email from Amber Moon, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's western regional press secretary. She noted "In 2009, Hernandez flew on the space shuttle Discovery's mission to the International Space Station and became the first person to tweet in Spanish from outer space." Once again it is clear that a lot of his followers on Twitter were attracted as a result of a NASA-funded activity. Amber Moon also asked NASAWatch to share this Univision story "Ex-astronaut Hernandez seeks congressional seat".
Keith,
I'm trying to figure out where what the issue with this is. I agree that NASA doesn't make it's policies clear and should. I'm pretty sure Jose will be the first to tell you that, I'm led to believe two-faced NASA politics is why he quit the Astro Corp in the first place.
A whole lot of astronauts and ex-astronauts have said things without distancing themselves from the agency with a statement like that.
He's a former employee now, just as many other ex-astronauts that still connect themselves with the agency. If people want to stop following his account (which it is) on Twitter, they can.
The latest statements on capital Hill from Gene Cernan and Neil Armstrong are pretty outrageous. I don't see any media outlets or pundits calling for them to disassociate their past with the agency.
Editor's note: Do they use NASA logo in advertising for political office? Do they use a Twitter account that was once an official NASA account for political purposes? That said, I get the impression that no one on the campaign stopped to think about this and that they will rectify the situation. I think this was more or less an innocent mistake. That said, NASA simply does not equally apply or enforce its policies in this regard.