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Education

Update: NASA Response to #IStandWithAhmed

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
September 21, 2015
Filed under
Update: NASA Response to #IStandWithAhmed

Keith’s 21 September Update: According to a stament provided to NASA Watch: “NASA is dedicated to STEM education and the engagement of students of diverse backgrounds and interests. We will be looking for opportunities to invite Ahmed and other students to participate in agency activities, and we will extend those invitations privately at the appropriate time.”
Keith’s 19 Sep note: The following was provided by NASA PAO in response to a request from NASAWatch:
“NASA has publicly voiced support for Ahmed and his interests across multiple social media platforms and reinforced the importance of encouraging students to explore science and technology studies and careers. His is a story that can help inspire new generations of explorers. Individuals across NASA also have expressed their personal support.
“After the President’s social media post, the White House extended an invitation for Ahmed to attend the annual Astronomy Night with the world’s leading scientists, astronomers, and fellow students in October. A number of NASA representatives along with other science agencies will be there to help support the event and interaction with Ahmed and other students.
“The agency has vibrant Education program that reaches students across the country and we’re constantly exploring new ways to engage young Americans.”

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

52 responses to “Update: NASA Response to #IStandWithAhmed”

  1. Paul451 says:
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    Looks like the white supremacists and their fellow travellers are now pushing the line that the whole thing was a plot by the father.

    [Edit: The new right-wing talking point is that the kid refused to answer questions.]

    • Chris Winter says:
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      I guess it goes like this: Father gets his kid to build a bomb disguised as a clock. Forgets to put explosives in it. Kid takes clock to school, scares a clueless teacher. Cops get called, kid gets arrested. Result: both father and son will now be scrutinized, with nothing sinister accomplished.

      Some plot.

  2. Daniel Woodard says:
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    I am astounded and disappointed that breitbart.com and similar sources are claiming that Ahmed was in fact a terrorist and that any electronic device built by a young Muslim American could only be a “fake bomb”. The astounding number of reader comments on their web page filled with bigotry and racism lead me to wonder if America even has a future. If we do, it will be because of young people of all backgrounds who share this boy’s intelligence and imagination.

    • Jafafa Hots says:
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      The latest scream I got from one of those types is that these websites have “reverse-engineered” the clock and found that the parts and plans are available on eBay – so he has “duped all the liberals and they have egg on their face” for defending him.

      As if the claim was that he had INVENTED the clock, rather than built it from instructions or a kit.
      These are people who have never heard of Radio Shack, Heathkit, who have never had experience with learning electronics and don’t understand that OF COURSE kids electronics projects are KITS or from plans.

      They are also saying that he had to have planned it to scare people because “why else would he have made it if it wasn’t a school requirement?”

      These are people who have no idea what learning for FUN is like, why you would do it, how it’s done… to have no knowledge of the whole fact of learning to make electronics items from plans you found online or in a magazine, or from buying a kit to build.

      It’s absolutely astounding. The very concept of inquisitiveness, and of supplies and plans and kits made for self-motivated learning is something they have no knowledge of.

      It is deeply depressing, because a lot of people with this kind of ignorance are now in positions of power.

      • rktsci says:
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        I’s pretty clear that he took a Radio Shack digital clock apart and mounted it in a new case. The thing that I noticed was that the 120 volt transformer appeared to be loose and had exposed contacts. Not safe.

        • Daniel Woodard says:
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          That was afterit was disassembled by the school authorities, but I agree the power supply could be a hazard, like when I used to stick my fingers in light sockets as a kid. Wait a minute, light sockets are also hazards!

        • Jafafa Hots says:
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          And so what if he did.
          I remember when “he used to take apart everything in the house to see how it worked” was something people said proudly.
          In fact, I saw a reality show last week, I dunno, may have been one of those gold mining ones (bering sea gold?), where the crew mechanic explained that he learned how to fix anything by doing just that as a kid.

          Just last week. Said that. And they portrayed it as a GOOD thing.

          (PS… he’s white.)

          • rktsci says:
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            Ethnicity has nothing to do with it.

            There is a huge difference between taking apart a digital clock (which is not repairable for the most part) and a mechanism like a lawn mower and putting them back together.

          • Jafafa Hots says:
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            Ethnicity has nothing to do with this whole kerfuffle?
            Fox News and Sarah Palin and Breitbart are all busy running stories about “Teen Ruined His Mom’s Alarm Clock” then? That’s all the fuss is about?

            Please.

    • Rich_Palermo says:
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      I am not surprised. It took a couple of days to get their talking points together and now they’re at it full force. Everyone is now jumping on the ‘kid is being coached’ bandwagon. Curious considering that most of them repeat what writers put in front of them or what comes through their own earpieces.

      I share your concern for this country. Insane now seems normal.

  3. DTARS says:
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    Bill Maher nails it I think?
    https://youtu.be/aGit-XltUB4

    • Daniel Woodard says:
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      “If you are a Muslim anything you do might be a plot to destroy America.”

      When he says this he is not being cynical. He is perfectly serious. Yes, the message is very clear.

      • Brian Thorn says:
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        He was quoting someone else.

        • Daniel Woodard says:
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          That is not clear to me, and I watched the whole video. Obviously the purpose of this program is to provide its audience with entertainment and excitement, not a reasoned discussion.

    • eddrw2014 says:
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      Bill is such a raging atheist that it is difficult for him to be all that credible on the topic of any religion. That’s the problem that I have with him on this complex issue of radical Islamist terrorism.

      He often comes across sounding like a lot of the bigots whom he would consider to be the other team – and when people try to call him out for that they must remember that he has a disregard for Islam that is completely unrelated to the color of anyone’s skin. He even said it in this clip!

      • DTARS says:
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        George Carlins thoughts on education, government, and religion are right on in my opinion. I wonder what he would have said about this kid if he weren’t up in heaven.
        https://youtu.be/rsL6mKxtOlQ

        • Jeff2Space says:
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          I loved George Carlin, but you have to admit he was a comedian. And according to his daughter he was also an alcoholic and a drug addict. I’m not sure he should be considered an authority on anything outside of comedy.

          • DTARS says:
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            Just happen to agree with many of his thoughts.

            I find it interesting that people jumped on sides on this bomb thing. I jumped to assume that it was abuse without knowing all the facts and I’m not sure what the true facts are.

            Keith talks about echo chambers, Years ago we use to have one main news source, now we have many. People seem to listion to news sources they like reinforcing what they already believe. Fox news as an example.
            How many republicans believe that Armad was treated fairly versus democrats?

            I believe as a result of 911 we have a serious police problem in this country. I, a blond white guy have run into cops that were abusive.
            I find the fact that we lock people up for taking marijuana is horrible and I’m pretty sure more brown skinned lives are ruined because of those bad laws.

            Non drinker smoker or drug user here.

            You suggest Carlins ideas should be thought less of because he drank and smoked? I don’t think that is wise. Ideas should just be taken at face value, right?

    • majormajor42 says:
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      Why is Mark Cuban performing his own investigation like the arbiter of the Dallas area? I understand he is wealthy and owns a local sports francize,… but is this common?

      He says he spoke to Ahmed on the phone, but when it came to the details of what happened, he was annoyed with the person in the background helping (“feeding him answers”). Boy Mr. Cuban, if only you could interrogate him without his guardians present like the police did! Be careful what you say young Ahmed, it may be used against you in the court of public TV shows.

  4. Vladislaw says:
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    They said they thought it was a bomb.
    :But they did not evacuate the school.

    They said they thought it was a bomb.
    :But they called the police not the bomb squad.

    They said they thought it was a bomb.
    :But they did not run away like it was a bomb.

    They said they thought it was a bomb.
    :But they escorted him to an office with the clock.

    They said they thought it was a bomb.
    :But they sat with him in the office and waited for Police.

    They said they thought it was a bomb.
    :But when the police came they put the clock in the police car.

    They said they thought it was a bomb.
    :But they sat in the car taking pictures.

    NO they did NOT think it was a bomb.

    There is only one reason you handcuff someone and perp walk them while taking pictures when they know there will be no charges… you perp walk to humiliate, nothing more.

    • eddrw2014 says:
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      Well, there is another explanation: that they’re idiots.

      Ill-intent and incompetence do tend to go hand in hand. Whether it was one or the other, I say flip a coin.

      • Daniel Woodard says:
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        or both. Your point is well taken. The school authorities claim they acted out of an abundance of caution, but in fact they did not demonstrate any caution at all.

  5. DTARS says:
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    So the kid simply to a o’clock apart?
    http://m.huffpost.com/us/en

    • Chris Winter says:
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      Just based on the picture, it looks like he took an off-the-shelf digital clock apart and mounted the parts in a pencil case. By itself, that isn’t a sign of genius. It’s hard to be sure, but he may have added a new display and control board. That would be more impressive.

      • fcrary says:
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        Or, possibly, he took.the same parts which go into an off-the-shelf digital clock and figured out how to connect them and make it work. I don’t think what he did is too important. It looks like it could be anything from moderately cleaver to very smart. I think the display of technical interest and the reaction of the school and police are the main issues.

        • Jeff2Space says:
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          No, but what he did shows interest in the subject matter, which is why he wanted to show it to his teacher.

          As a teen, I took apart a lot of electronics and tinkered with my Radio Shack 150 in one electronics kit a lot. I also built electronics kits (remember Heathkits?) for fun. None of that was particularly impressive or innovative, but it did put me on a path to go to college and earn my B.S. in Aerospace Engineering degree from Purdue University.

    • Chris Winter says:
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      This claim that he said he invented the device… I never heard that before. It seems Ahmed should have known better. And Mark Cuban, on the Bill Maher clip, says that he never explained to the fourth teacher what the device was, and that’s what caused all the trouble. Again, I don’t know if that’s true.

      But assuming these claims are true, the picture I get is of a shy kid, maybe low in self-esteem. He repackages the clock, brings it to school to impress people, overstates his effort, clams up when a teacher scolds him about having the clock. Pure speculation, of course; but it seems possible.

      • DTARS says:
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        I heard from another source that it was a science teacher that he showed it to first, who instructed him to put it in his bag. It was in his bag when the alarm went off?
        Point, there is a lot of bull flying around on this.

        • Hug Doug ✓ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ says:
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          Ultimately, nobody ever really believed it was a bomb, he never claimed it was anything other than a clock, and it should be clear it wasn’t his intention to scare people or trick anyone into thinking it was a bomb, which means it’s not a “hoax bomb.” So the police were way out of line to cuff him and take him to juvie.

      • John Thomas says:
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        I have heard that the school is waiting for permission from the family before they can tell their side of the story.

    • Terry Stetler says:
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      Art Voice blog has an analysis,

      http://blogs.artvoice.com/t

  6. Allen Thomson says:
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    Back in the day, 50’s – 60’s, I and my companions did many projects that would have gotten us perp-walked today. (The fulminate of mercury one didn’t work, perhaps fortunately for us.)

    Even today, such terroristic things can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/wat

    • John Thomas says:
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      A friend and I made crystal oscillators (among other things) that we used to communicate to each other. We never received anything from MIT.

  7. James Lundblad says:
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    I would give the kid a break. He hacked the innards of clock into a pencil box. He needs a mentor to guide him into more challenging builds and electronic design.

  8. majormajor42 says:
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    He did say “they took my invention” so I could understand that bothering people since it looks like it is just a disassembled clock… WHAT? who are you people? He’s 14! Get a life. He was arrested, in handcuffs, kept from his parents. But beat him up for semantics? He’s 14!

    The maker movement is right to embrace him. I just took part in the opening of a makerspace at a school this weekend. 3D printers, those robot legos…, good stuff. In the ribbon cutting remarks they even said how taking electronic things apart and tinkering will be one of the important activities. We need to get more kids interested in STEAM.

    The comments about “muslim-looking” kids with circuits and wires being some sort of assumed threat is ridiculous. Go ahead and image search Google for something like “electrical engineering classroom texas” and you will see young “brown” people (and professors). A lot of them. These critics are blind to an American reality. Maybe it is better off they are blind to it.

    I can only assume that the same folks that are threatened are the ones that think the President is a Muslim and that being muslim is a bad thing. I think the recent data was 40% of the GOP feels this way so no surprise that certain blogs are filled with hate about this kid too. These idiots are also the ones that do things like beat up (or worse) a Sikh (definitely not muslim) man, calling him “Osama”, as recently happened in Chicago.

    • Daniel Woodard says:
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      Ahmed, who was born in the USA, has been insulted, picked on, and villified by his fellow American students because he is of a different religion and cultural heritage. I absolutely agree that there are other schools even in Texas where this would not have occurred. There are other schools in every state where it would not have happened.

  9. RJ says:
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    WTF does this have to do with NASA??? Additionally NASA…stick with relevant topics and stay out of the politics of this!!!!!!

    • John Thomas says:
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      He was wearing a NASA shirt.

    • thebigMoose says:
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      Spot on RJ! Spot on! Perhaps certain program exec’s, who should know what true innovation looks like, should have let a little time go by to vet this story before tweeting,,, same goes for the president. Funny how now that the details are getting out, things are looking more “sketch” … to use the terms of the age.

  10. Daniel Woodard says:
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  11. Gene DiGennaro says:
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    Haven’t there been cases of teen aged rocket builders getting in trouble with the law? No one gives them special treatment or scholarships to Embry Riddle.

    • Daniel Woodard says:
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      “The explosion struck a chord with 18-year NASA veteran Homer Hickam, a former lead astronaut training manager for Spacelab, and later for the International Space Station.

      In the late 1950s, Hickam had a brush with law enforcement for allegedly starting a forest fire [with an amateur rocket]. State police came to his high school and led him and his friends away in handcuffs, but his high school physics professor and school principal came to the rescue, clearing him of wrongdoing.”

      Maybe you mean this case, in which an honor student (Kiera Wilmot) was arrested and charged by the DA (Glotfelty) as a bomber after an unauthorized chemical experiment generated a small amount of hydrogen and caused a “pop”?
      http://www.usatoday.com/sto
      “Some commenters accused Glotfelty of a double standard, noting that three days after Wilmot was charged she declined to prosecute a 13-year-old boy who killed his 10-year-old brother with a BB gun (shooting him in the head from a range of 6 inches). She said “it is our opinion that this case can only be seen as a tragic accident.” ‘The boys were acting irresponsibly, but they were just kids being kids,’ said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. http://www.nydailynews.com/

  12. jski says:
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    This whole episode smacks of something staged. Something intended to feed the narrative of Southern red-neck hicks picking on a poor Muslim boy.

    • Jafafa Hots says:
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      The conspiracy goes very deep then, what with local politicians having passed pointless “anti Sharia Law” legislation months ago in preparation…

    • tutiger87 says:
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      I’ve had my own run-ins with Southern red-neck hicks. And some of them were engineers…

  13. James Lundblad says:
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    A common theme I think folks starting out taking stuff apart. Jerri Elsworth interview if you can get it to stream, I had to use the pop-out.

    http://www.ustream.tv/recor