This Is What Happens to Moon Bashers
NASA Administrator Resigns After Leak Of Offensive Anti-Moon Email, The Onion
“I wish I could understand what would possess someone so committed to space exploration to say such ugly things about the moon,” NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot said, adding that he was shocked and appalled when he read Bolden’s wish that the moon would “just wane itself out of existence.” “But his comments were clearly inexcusable. Unfortunately, I think his resignation was the only way for NASA, and for Charles himself, to move forward.”
Keith’s note: (sigh) Yes folks, this is a parody. Its The Onion after all. Although it was hard to tell it was fake – until they quoted Robert Lightfoot as having refered to Charlie Bolden as “Charles” – then I knew it was fake. 😉
I was so excited until I saw it was The Onion. Damn.
He he! Me too!
Funny! The Onion is such a hoot!
Bolden also said that Jupiter was fat, but he thought that Venus was hot.
What he say about Uranus?
Mooning usually doesn’t require a statement.
I also understand that he also thought that going to Pluto was a Mickey Mouse idea.
And he said forget Saturn. GM killed Saturn off in 09.
and, IIRC, Bolden added that scientists who advocated flyby’s of Neptune were all wet.
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The Onion’s spoof articles are often funny or thought-provoking but I’m not sure where they were going with this except maybe to suggest that Moon First has become a sacred ‘shibboleth’ to some; comparable to racial or gender diversity in its unquestionability.
I thought it was a “leaked email or conversation/phoney apology/resignation” satire. NBA, NFL, government offices and more have been doing it a LOT recently.
The incongruity is the joke.
I think the Onion writer would be shocked (and deeply amused) if you showed him the childish reaction to Obama’s “been there, done that” comment (which people still whinge about, over four years later), as if it was an insult against their race/religion/etc. I doubt the writer was aware of it, and thus was not referencing it in the article. Indeed, their joke really doesn’t work unless the idea was ridiculous.
That said, there’s a large amount of awareness behind their other NASA spoofs: http://www.theonion.com/art…
I am surpriced! How could he write this?? Hopefully NASA will find a better leader that wants to put people on the Moon again.
http://newsfeed.time.com/20…
I’m not sure if it is irony or poor editing (you can never tell with The Onion)…”Moon” is a proper noun in the context of that article.
I could understand the Administrator’s Moon thoughts if he had manned Mars missions on his mind.
After all, if manned Moon missions could still galvanize sufficient public support, the Apollo program might still exist today in some way, shape or form.
Manned missions to the Moon haven’t been give a chance since Apollo! If a far more sensible, pragmatic, less bloated version of Constellation was being implemented, NASA *might* have stood a chance for a human return to the Moon by Apollo 11’s 50th Anniversary. And with enthusiasm for that at a pitch: Mars 10 years beyond that with a much upgraded landing craft. If a more sensible version of ‘Altair’ had been built, ‘scarred’ from the beginning to have a Descent Module chassis capable of withstanding .38g or more and later, fitted with an aeroshell… A guy can dream, can’t he? 🙁
I think the term he was looking for was “natural satellite.”
“Moon” is an antiquated term and has too many stereotypically negative connotations.
(Wink) Wait a minute!! Now what has the Moon done for us lately, other than ensure the gentle rise and fall of the tides??? And those tides are not all for fun, just ask the people who live on the Bay of Fundy, the tides there are not all fundy and games you know – could be dangerous.
And the Moon is hardly reliable – the light waxes and wanes all the time.
Maybe Charlie has a point, and we should have higher standards for our astronomical objects. (/Wink)
Thanks Onion, at least someone cares about space policy (outside of this group)
Why am I not surprised that this idiot shot himself in both feet and his head. He should have been fired three years ago when he insulted the legacy of the Space Shuttle Program. Right around the last one of two flights of the SSP, Bolden tells an interviewer that flying the space shuttle is like playing Russian roulette. Obviously he was sucking up to the White House when he stated this because the White House had no intention of continuing the program.
Good riddance!!!!!
Um, this is a parody article. The Onion is a humor news paper and has been for decades.
As as show of support for the Moon, we should declare the “moon” challenge. People should record themselves mooning the camera and post it on youtube. 😉 I’ll let others go first…
And now we are proud to announce a new web site ,
Watch NASA Watch,
we will endeavor to protect the rights of the dumber NASA civil servants from disparagement.
We will advocate for civil servant anti disparagement laws just like the tea party people do for ugly fruits and vegetables
We will make it unlawful to advocate for crewed lunar missions unless that poster also has the $15 billion R&D costs for the lander in their hip pocket
Watch NASA Watch will also advocate for flexible path in the maximum vagueness that required by civil servants everywhere
What the heck!!! So we all had a good laugh. Sure was fun reading it.??