NASA Chief: Next Frontier Better Relations With Muslim World
Published July 05, 2010 | FoxNews.com
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.
I have an idea- if we really want NASA to go to the moon, we should tell them we want to build the first mosque off world there with a giant minnaret/missile launcher pointed at Israel.
. "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"- Mao Zedong
Say NASA were to have stated \"Our Mission is to create better relations with the Christian world.\" WTF does religion have to do with space exploration or science?
When will we take back our country- if we can at all at this point?
. "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"- Mao Zedong
Just wait until some islamnosleeperterrorist gets aboard a space craft and blows it up. TB, you are right, religion has no truck with NASA to the point NASA leadership needs to play favorites.
ThunderBunny wrote:This stuff is really starting to piss me off.
Really ? Where have you been ? Ah, forgot -- running your vendeta against a religion. Does kind of distract one from the more important things, doesn't it ?
ThunderBunny wrote:When will we take back our country- if we can at all at this point?
Never. Lost it a long time ago. As you can tell by experience, fear mongering works very well on multiple angles.
Never. Lost it a long time ago. As you can tell by experience, fear mongering works very well on multiple angles.
This spot on. In a sense the terrorist are winning the war as everyone (in public discourse) seems frightened to say anything critical of Muslims. So does this fear to criticize indicate that Islam is a religion of peace? Or one of intimidation and terror?
Really ? Where have you been ? Ah, forgot -- running your vendeta against a religion.
You might be surprised that it has a vendetta against you, Grendel. Why? Because you exist and don't believe that allah is the only god and muhammad is his prophet.
That is- if you haven't converted to islam yet.
. "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"- Mao Zedong
Dude, I give a damn about the \"thread\" by the islam. Why ? Because the only time I hear about it it it's from people trying to tell me I should be concerned. Muslims are humans as we all are, they have a life and try to make ends meet. Most of them give a damn about me or this country, just like most christians give a damn about them. If you want to be concerned about this world, start looking here -- there's much to be concerned about. To name a few things: ecconomy, environment, health care, poverty, stupidity, loss of freedom, deficit, politicians, everything made in china lately. All homemade problems that warrant more attention than the islam. Yes, an eye should be kept out on them but trying to start another crusade is really over doing it. At the end we all live on the same planet.
Well of course. There are many many more concerns than just the spread of a supremacist ideology.
There are plenty of \"man-caused\" disasters in addition to nature's dangerous thrashings that kill thousands of people from time to time.
The BP oil spill for one (man + nature.)
So...there are global problems. Does that mean we should overlook a PREVENTABLE human-centric problem of terrorism/bigotry/supremacism at home by an ideology that our government seems to be disturbingly dismissive of or full-on embracing?
NO. Not in my country.
-and like I have stated AGAIN and AGAIN, not all muslims want to kill you- but ISLAM does.
. "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"- Mao Zedong
\"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.\"
Relations are the \"Foremost Mission\"? Gee I thought going to Mars or the moon might be the foremost mission. Silly me.
\"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.\"
So Now Obama puts his imprimatur on a agency that should not be a religious promoting organization. Why couldn't they just say that NASA would be working with middle eastern countries instead of throwing in the religious card? Might of been more palatable.
You know how those liberal Dems make up there minds to do something, this may be there way of sending all the Muslims to the moon and leaving them there. Put out the hand of trust and then say buh bye.
Cuda68 wrote:You know how those liberal Dems make up there minds to do something, this may be there way of sending all the Muslims to the moon and leaving them there. Put out the hand of trust and then say buh bye.
THEY choose to go to the moon. THEY choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of THEIR energies and skills, because that challenge is one that THEY are willing to accept, one we are willing to postpone, and one which THEY intend to win, and the others, too.
It's never good to wake up in the shrubs naked, you either got way too drunk, or your azz is a werewolf.
Say NASA were to have stated "Our Mission is to create better relations with the Christian world." WTF does religion have to do with space exploration or science?
When will we take back our country- if we can at all at this point?
Who cares about space exploration? :P We have enough problems down here. :P All they're doing is wasting money and resources going to the moon etc.
