From 2010: Neil Armstrong Criticizes Obama Space Plan

NPR ^ | May 12, 2010 | NPR Staff and Wires

[BenLurkin]

The first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, went before a Senate hearing Wednesday afternoon to question President Obama's new vision for the future of human spaceflight.

Armstrong told lawmakers that he worries about the possibility that NASA would lose its edge in spaceflight, if it spent years without its own way of flying astronauts.

"If the leadership we have acquired through our investment is simply allowed to fade away, other nations will surely step in where we have faltered," said the Apollo 11 commander. "I do not believe that this would be in our best interests."

Armstrong was skeptical of Obama's plan to rely on new space taxis developed by private companies after the space shuttles are retired. And while Obama has argued that NASA should be aiming for new destinations — like asteroids — Armstrong said he believes that there would be real benefits to returning to the moon, as NASA had planned.

He said the Obama plan was "contrived by a very small group in secret" who persuaded the president that this was the way to put his stamp on the space program. "I believe the president was poorly advised," he said.

[yldstrk]

uh yeah, what space plan is that? enough said

[opentalk]

NASA’s New Mission: Muslim Self-Esteem ?

...before I became the NASA administrator —he charged me with three things. ... 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.

[Taffini]

*bump* NASA’s purpose

[A.A. Cunningham]

120321-N-JG418-031 SAN DIEGO (March 21, 2012) Astronaut Neil Armstrong is greeted by Vice Adm. Allen G. Myers, commander of Naval Air Forces (CNAF), before receiving a brief, along with other Korean War- era members of Fighter Squadron (VF) 51, the Screaming Eagles, on the current state of naval aviation. VF-51 is notable in U.S. Navy history as the first squadron to operate jet aircraft, conduct a jet carrier landing and fly jet aircraft in combat. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph Moon/Released)

120321-N-JG418-014 SAN DIEGO (March 21, 2012) Astronaut Neil Armstrong shakes the hand of Capt. Roy Kelley, chief of staff for Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF), during a visit to CNAF headquarters as a part of a reunion of Korean War-era members of Fighter Squadron (VF) 51, the Screaming Eagles. VF-51 is notable in U.S. Navy history as the first squadron to operate jet aircraft, conduct a jet carrier landing and fly jet aircraft in combat. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph Moon/Released)