Obama Tells NASA: Space Programs For Muslims

From the Orlando Sentinel:

WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said Tuesday that President Barack Obama has asked him to “find ways to reach out to dominantly Muslim countries” as the White House pushes the space agency to become a tool of international diplomacy.

“In addition to the nations that most of you usually hear about when you think about the International Space Station, we now have expanded our efforts to reach out to non-traditional partners,” said Bolden, speaking to a lecture hall of young engineering students.

Specifically, he talked about connecting with countries that do not have an established space program and helping them conduct science missions. He mentioned new opportunities with Indonesia, including an educational program that examines global climate change.

“We really like Indonesia because the State Department, the Department of Education [and] other agencies in the U.S. are reaching out to Indonesia as the largest Muslim nation in the world. We would love to establish partners there,” Bolden said.

As a presidential candidate, Obama espoused a space program that invited more participation from the international community and Deputy NASA Administrator Lori Garver said recently that the next time NASA lands on the moon it would be part of an international exploration effort.

Former astronaut Charlie Bolden, Jr. got his job as leader of NASA from Barack Obama and has been managing NASA's missions and goals for 7 months. In that brief time, NASA's moon mission has been cancelled, the space shuttle program is being abandoned (with the U.S. hitching rides to the International Space Station), and the satellite program is being pressed into service as a lackey for the discredited Global Warming Doomsday tax scam. Now, Muslim nations in space--at US taxpayer expense.

What could go wrong?

After all, today President Barack Hussain Obama telephoned the astronauts aboard the International Space Station and told them, ". . . my commitment to NASA is unwavering."

As First Mate Piggy said to Captain Hogthrob: "I think your landings are hard and your brain is soft."
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Related post: Will NASA Dare to Go Where Japan Has Been Before?