by Nomad
Trump's Gibberish about NASA
Last Friday,
President Trump sent a tweet about NASA that
had a lot of people screaming into their pillows.
For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!
Almost every news outlet focused on the Mars /Moon
confusion- which was probably more of a problem with Trump hackneyed phrasing
than anything else. Trump (probably) does not believe Mars is a part of the
Moon but part of the "bigger things we are doing."
But that very generous interpretation opens a new can of worms for Trump.
But that very generous interpretation opens a new can of worms for Trump.
Besides opening the Moon for commercial exploitation, the secondary goal of NASA's lunar project was, in fact, the first step in getting to Mars.
Because of its lower gravity, the Moon would make an ideal launching platform for trips to a Martian colony. Mars has always been a long term goal of the agency. And that's concisely stated on its website.
Exploration of the Moon and Mars is intertwined. The Moon provides an opportunity to test new tools, instruments and equipment that could be used on Mars, including human habitats, life support systems, and technologies and practices that could help us build self-sustaining outposts away from Earth. Living on the Gateway for months at a time will also allow researchers to understand how the human body responds in a true deep space environment before committing to the years-long journey to Mars.
That much makes sense.
So, why would Trump be criticizing NASA for going to the Moon and then in the very next sentence imply they have to go to the Moon on the way to Mars? It's more likely he hasn't got a clue what he's talking about and just wants to feel presidential by criticizing a huge organization like NASA.
So, why would Trump be criticizing NASA for going to the Moon and then in the very next sentence imply they have to go to the Moon on the way to Mars? It's more likely he hasn't got a clue what he's talking about and just wants to feel presidential by criticizing a huge organization like NASA.
Once again, it was up to White House officials to explain what Trump's gibberish really meant.
Fox News- Trump's Space Program Advisor
It was the Washington Post that looked past that flub to
find something even more disturbing.
Reporters John Wagner and Christian Davenport
noted that President
Trump was criticizing NASA for promoting its plan to return to the moon and yet, earlier in this term, it was Trump himself who was promoting the same project and
championed it as recently as last month.
The tweet, sent from Air Force One as Trump returned from a trip to Europe, did not make clear whether he thinks the strategy should be entirely abandoned or whether he was more concerned about how NASA was branding the strategy.
These two theories presume that Trump actually remembers
what he said last year, last month or yesterday. Maybe there's an easier
explanation for this about-face.
The article also adds:
Trump’s tweet was sent shortly after Fox Business host Neil Cavuto questioned on air why NASA is “refocusing on the moon, the next sort of quest, if you will” and asked: “But didn’t we do this moon thing quite a few decades ago?”Cavuto's anti-moon argument is, therefore, a sort of "been there, done that" approach to space exploration. A bit like what every American tourist says: "We saw Paris two years ago. So, why would we want to go back there?"
Trump clearly doesn't want to be the second president to go to the moon. Where are the bragging rights to that?
Somehow, along the way, President Trump appears to have forgotten
his own policy and confused it with a more dangerous and expensive one advocated by a business correspondent on Fox News.