Another Astronaut Offers Support For Joe Biden
Opinion: Joe Biden can unite our pale blue dot, Houston Chronicle, Op Ed by Astronaut Garrett Reisman
“As vice president, Biden followed the science. He made possible the funding that returned human space flight to the United States by partnering with private companies through NASA’s commercial crew program. He saved thousands of jobs in Texas by extending the International Space Station program until 2024, and as president he will continue NASA funding for the space station beyond 2024. We need people in the White House who listen to our nation’s scientists, engineers and technologists. Biden is not afraid to take on difficult challenges head-on while Trump’s approach to complex problems is to pretend that they don’t exist.”
– Former NASA Administrator And Navy Secretary Sean O’Keefe Endorses Joe Biden, earlier post
So how’s that Bidenrocket coming along then? Should Biden take the blame for SLS too, since he’s trying to claim credit for Commercial Crew?
Actually it is the Senate’s rocket – not Obama/Biden’s – and it is the replacement for Bush’s failed rocket under MikeGriffin.
Since the SLS is in all essential ways the same launch vehicle as the Ares V, it is hardly a replacement. More like a continuation of the same launch vehicle.
When it came to the SLS decision point of 2010, Obama and Biden rolled right over and did the bidding of the Democratic Majority U.S. Congress instead of using the powers of the executive branch to resist.
So explain to me how Biden escapes responsibility for the SLS catastrophe? Either in the adaption of the SLS project in the first place, or the mismanagement of the SLS project during the Obama administration?
SLS was supposed to be flight worthy by December 2016. Obama even bragged that it would be so during his 2010 Florida space policy speech.
The Obama Administration had to adhere to what Congress said about SLS because it was embodied in law.
So?
That doesn’t address creation of that law in the first place, nor does it address the mismanagement of the SLS project afterwards. The Obama administration was neck deep in both issues.
Do you even understand how our government works? Congress reacted to Ares mismanagement by designing the rocket for NASA and the ordered NASA to build it the way that politicians had designed it.
Yes indeed I understand the process by which laws are passed by the Federal Government. Such as the veto authority that the Executive Branch wields.
NASA projects are never the reason why Presidents veto large appropriation bills that cover large portions – if not all – of the Federal government. Just sayin’
Now, now,….SLS was a uniquely bipartisan bit of senatorial corruption. Shelby, Nelson, Mikulski, etc. Plenty of graft to go around.
Commercial crew began under the Obama administration, not Trump.
Commercial Crew grew out of COTS-D, and COTS started in 2006.
And it had its origins under Sean O’Keefe.
So what? The SLS also began under the Obama administration.
Yes and SLS was forced upon NASA by Congress with some very specific restrictions.
Did Obama ever try to stop it?
Yes, actually they, did. And Congress kept defunding commercial crew too. But people forget that.
Great recommendation!!
Sadly, those guys are SO OLD that few people will remember who they are. Buzz has supported a wide variety of candidates, who knows if he is actually even making these decisions himself.
What is really sad is to see Sen McSally treated so badly by trump, the guy that she has supported so loyally. In that rally in Arizona she got one minute while Nigel Farage (/sarcasm/ what US office is he running for again?? /sarcasm/) got far more time than she did. And she took it (like a man??)!! And thanked trump.
Buzz has supported various people, he appears to actually be the one behind his statements and it would be interesting to hear why he really supports McSally vs Kelly.
Kelly partners the leadership of one of the most extreme anti-gun political organizations in the United States.
Yet Kelly is running for U.S. Senate to represent one of the most extreme pro-gun States of the entire United States.
That is a glaring mismatch.
And they are about to elect him.
Four very old Republicans repeat the deceptive party line on hot-button issues. I don’t find this particularly interesting or swaying. Reisman is active in the space economy NOW. His opinions are far more relevant.
I would never base a political decision on what these guys think. They have been conservative Republicans for years. Most are Climate Change deniers and feel no one (except for Buzz) deserves to go into space unless they are part of the test pilot fraternity. Screw them.
I can’t imagine that Biden would anger the Europeans now that they have committed to the program.
As of now 231,125 Americans won’t be voting because they’re dead. Perhaps a significant fraction of those might still be alive if the President had actually taken substantive and prompt action to blunt the impact of a pandemic. I wonder if the astronauts supporting Trump thought about that?
What I’ve heard from him sounds like he understands the underlying data. The comments made by the three Apollo astronauts shared above is pure repetition of deliberately-deceptive talking points out of the GOP. It’s pretty sad to think that they are so ill-informed and willing to be led.
Frankly, anyone who would be swayed by any of these at this point really hasn’t been paying attention to anything for the last four years. Why any of these ex-astronauts would choose to take a political stand at this point is hard to fathom. They will change essentially zero votes and they forever tag themselves with a partisan label which can only color anything they say or do from this point forward.
Jack Lousma goes from being Ann Arbor’s favorite son to just another old political hack. Is that really the way he wants to be remembered? In his position, I’d take a pass.
You do know that astronauts are citizens – just like you and I – and they have the same right to free speech as you and I do.
Prominent among the things he has said is that we need to get moving very seriously on ending the destruction of the planet’s climate. NASA and its Earth observation capabilities will no doubt play a central role in the work necessary to preserve a habitable troposphere.
I don’t know why an astronaut endorsement should be any more important than the view of anyone else.
Given the past four years of Trump’s attacks on the press, Federal employees, immigrants, the Climate, our allies, and democracy in general, why would anyone base their vote on what any candidate says about space? There are larger issues involved.
Martha McSalley has an enviable record in service to her country. During the election, she has completely debased herself to a man qualified to to achieve nothing compared to what she has achieved. It’s inexplicable.
No, astronaut endorsements are not important, full stop.
Then why did you feel the need to reply?
I was replying to the statement “astronaut endorsements are not that important unless we agree with them”.
I’ll take an astronaut’s advice or consul about his particular expertise any day; their political opinion? Nah.
Why should we listen to your political opinion? Why are they not able to have political opinions? Does being an astronaut make them unable to understand politics and form opinions? At least they use their real names, “Rabbit”.
Of course they can have political opinions. I do not find their opinions to be any more relevant than your average plumber.
As for my screen name, I maintain it across several services and quite a few comment sections. It’s a nickname that I was given in grammar school and relates to my first name, which is Peter.
OK Peter Rabbit. Whatever you say.