I knew getting Tyson and Logsdon in a room together would be a comedy of absurd claims. A real fact checker’s delight, and all the naivety you can swallow.
My favorite memory of Logsdon is another panel where, in response to someone suggesting the Augustine committee wasted their time recommending a $3B/year plus up for NASA’s budget, he suggested that if Obama had asked Congress for the money they would have appropriated it. Two people on the panel burst out laughing and the third put her hand on his and said something like “oh darling, you’re precious”. Logsdon actually then reiterated his claim and asked if the other panelists really didn’t think Congress would have awarded the increased budget.. there was a long pause followed by each panelist saying “no John, I don’t.”
This is similar to when Tyson went to the Senate authorization committee and testified that NASA’s budget should be doubled and how this would inspire all the kiddies, etc. Bill Nelson said “you are preaching to the choir”, and then everyone waffled on for 25 minutes and adjourned. Tyson seemed completely oblivious to the difference between authorizations and appropriations, actually thinking the committee he was testifying to was somehow against the idea of spending twice as much money in their districts than they were able to get.
The only way this could have been better is if they got Bill Nye in the room. One day I’d like to see Zubrin tear each of these cheerleaders a new pom-pom.
Meanwhile the folks in NM are starting to question the wisdom of buying into the space tourism hype…
Failure To Launch: How New Mexico Is Paying For Richard Branson’s Space Tourism Fantasy
[[[One of the poorest states in the nation has invested nearly a quarter of a billion dollars and 10 years in creating a hub for Richard Branson’s space tourism company, Virgin Galactic. Some see it as the crown jewel of a new space age while others call it a carnival for the 1 percent — but with persistent delays and mounting financial strain, Spaceport America is just trying to avoid becoming New Mexico’s costliest, most futuristic ghost town.]]]
I knew getting Tyson and Logsdon in a room together would be a comedy of absurd claims. A real fact checker’s delight, and all the naivety you can swallow.
My favorite memory of Logsdon is another panel where, in response to someone suggesting the Augustine committee wasted their time recommending a $3B/year plus up for NASA’s budget, he suggested that if Obama had asked Congress for the money they would have appropriated it. Two people on the panel burst out laughing and the third put her hand on his and said something like “oh darling, you’re precious”. Logsdon actually then reiterated his claim and asked if the other panelists really didn’t think Congress would have awarded the increased budget.. there was a long pause followed by each panelist saying “no John, I don’t.”
This is similar to when Tyson went to the Senate authorization committee and testified that NASA’s budget should be doubled and how this would inspire all the kiddies, etc. Bill Nelson said “you are preaching to the choir”, and then everyone waffled on for 25 minutes and adjourned. Tyson seemed completely oblivious to the difference between authorizations and appropriations, actually thinking the committee he was testifying to was somehow against the idea of spending twice as much money in their districts than they were able to get.
The only way this could have been better is if they got Bill Nye in the room. One day I’d like to see Zubrin tear each of these cheerleaders a new pom-pom.
Meanwhile the folks in NM are starting to question the wisdom of buying into the space tourism hype…
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jgwheel/failure-to-launch-how-new-mexico-is-paying-for-richard-brans
Failure To Launch: How New Mexico Is Paying For Richard Branson’s Space Tourism Fantasy
[[[One of the poorest states in the nation has invested nearly a quarter of a billion dollars and 10 years in creating a hub for Richard Branson’s space tourism company, Virgin Galactic. Some see it as the crown jewel of a new space age while others call it a carnival for the 1 percent — but with persistent delays and mounting financial strain, Spaceport America is just trying to avoid becoming New Mexico’s costliest, most futuristic ghost town.]]]