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Old 06-07-2010, 01:46 PM   #1
S.T.D.

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Default Curious new role for NASA
Fox and elsewhere:

http://foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?p...fma&pageNum=-1

From news article:
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" mission as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.
Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.
"When I became the NASA administrator -- or before I became the NASA administrator -- he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering," Bolden said in the interview.
The NASA administrator was in the Middle East last month marking the one-year anniversary since Obama delivered an address to Muslim nations in Cairo. Bolden spoke in June at the American University in Cairo -- in his interview with Al Jazeera, he described space travel as an international collaboration of which Muslim nations must be a part.
"It is a matter of trying to reach out and get the best of all worlds, if you will, and there is much to be gained by drawing in the contributions that are possible from the Muslim (nations)," he said. He held up the International Space Station as a model, praising the contributions there from the Russians and the Chinese.
However, Bolden denied the suggestion that he was on a diplomatic mission -- in a distinctly non-diplomatic role.
"Not at all. It's not a diplomatic anything," he said.
He said the United States is not going to travel beyond low-Earth orbit on its own and that no country is going to make it to Mars without international help.
Bolden has faced criticism this year for overseeing the cancellation of the agency's Constellation program, which was building new rockets and spaceships capable of returning astronauts to the moon. Stressing the importance of international cooperation in future missions, Bolden told Al Jazeera that the moon, Mars and asteroids are still planned destinations for NASA.
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Old 06-07-2010, 02:01 PM   #2
Peptobismol

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probably for begging oil.
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Old 06-07-2010, 04:40 PM   #3
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Old 06-07-2010, 05:42 PM   #4
S.T.D.

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truly pathetic
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Old 06-07-2010, 06:15 PM   #5
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I'm just left confused by it. At the least NASA should be educating Americans before they march off overseas as goodwill ambassadors. If anything they should make outreach to Russia, China, India and Japan and possibly Brazil. Those the countries that are going to help us to do more work in space.
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Old 06-07-2010, 06:47 PM   #6
Peptobismol

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What you don't think Saudi Arabia can contribute to advancing science?
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Old 06-07-2010, 06:56 PM   #7
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Call me cynical, but no.
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Old 06-07-2010, 07:31 PM   #8
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probably for begging oil.
Care to explain?
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Old 06-07-2010, 09:02 PM   #9
Drugmachine

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Care to explain?
Sure. If Obama scrubs NASA expenses, NASA will be looking for extra resources.
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Old 06-07-2010, 11:45 PM   #10
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How about appealing to Mexico? Will get the illegals interested in space and may be they can all stay home and study.
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Old 06-08-2010, 12:07 AM   #11
Raj_Copi_Jin

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Are Mexicans muslims?
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Old 06-08-2010, 12:12 AM   #12
Lillie_Steins

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Does falafel take a side of guacamole?
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Old 06-08-2010, 05:13 AM   #13
radikal

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what a moron
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Old 06-08-2010, 06:08 AM   #14
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Sure. If Obama scrubs NASA expenses, NASA will be looking for extra resources.
Thanks
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