Alan Stern’s recent New York Times op-ed about problems in NASA’s exploration program has generated at least five – count ‘em, FIVE – letters to the editors ranging from supportive to critical. Interestingly, they are all from figures in the space community.
- Apollo 17 moonwalker Harrison “Jack” Schmitt;
- Mars Society President Bob Zubrin;
- Richard D. Blomberg, former chairman of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel;
- Gregg Foti, an oceanographer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and
- Alan Dressler, an astronomer at Carnegie Observatories.
I don’t know if the selection of letters was a result of the Times editors choosing people with professional space backgrounds or if this is all the responses they received on the subject. My guess is that most Times readers – faced with a souring economy, trillions in lost retirement income, and tens of thousands of layoffs – probably greeted news of cost overruns at NASA with a collective shrug. This is probably quite low on their priority list.
Thanks to Space Transport News for finding the letters page.
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