Remembering

For some strange reason #NASA HQ will not allow media or the public to attend the NASA Remembrance Day event at Arlington National Cemetery. They cite COVID – despite the fact that everything occurs outdoors in a large, open area. This event has been open to all for decades. Sad. pic.twitter.com/caxsx1dGyL

— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 26, 2022

NASA Pays Tribute to Fallen Heroes with Day of Remembrance
“Various NASA centers also will hold observances for NASA Day of Remembrance. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this year’s events across the agency will be limited to invited guests and closed to media.”
Keith’s note: Like many other people in the DC area I have been going to these Arlington memorial events as often as I could for more than 30 years – especially when I served on the board of directors of the Challenger Center For Space Science Education. This event is held in a huge public outdoor place but NASA now uses COVID as an excuse to limit attendance. Anyone who has been there knows that this is a vast open space. This really sad.
Keith’s update: I heard from a back channel at NASA PAO that the Arlington National Cemetery event starts at 1:00 pm and that the public can attend. But media have to get clearance. That’s not going to happen. There will be no bus from NASA HQ so a car pass (impossible to get) will be needed to drive in. I could just walk in – except the last time I did that several years ago the cemetery cops stopped me and detained me for 30 minutes claiming that the NASA memorial event was a “private” memorial event and that I needed an actual invitation and car pass to proceed. Last year I made a formal request to NASA to attend and was told quite clearly that I could not attend. This badly worded media release demonstrates the lack of transparency that Wayne Hale was talking about at the NAC meeting a week or so ago. Why bother to put a press release out that is accurate and not misleading.