NASA Going Dark? - Announces Suspension to Public Outreach Programs

I saw this from Google Science News, then linked to Nature World News.

Few confirmed details are available, this is purportedly from an internal memo to employees and the public:

"In response to cuts in government spending that have come as a result of Washington's current sequestration, NASA released a memo on March 22 alerting both the public and employees that all public and educational outreach programs are to be suspended immediately."

Source - www.natureworldnews.com...

I couldn't find the news or memo on the NASA site, and it hasn't been reported widely in MSM.

If true, this is a sad development and I think it will have long-term consequences for support of science education in the U.S. and worldwide.

Can anyone confirm or debunk this news? Or find a copy of the memo? Analysis and insight are most welcome, political rants and ignorance are not.

Thanks in advance for contributing to this thread meaningfully.

Yes. The mandatory spending cuts will have broad impacts.

This seems to be an emergency measure, put in place until NASA can determine the full effects of the cuts.

reply to post by surfin4it


I found something here on it.

cosmiclog.nbcnews.com...

Anyway I think this is sad, all the taxes Americans pay and we seem to get so little from it

"Sequestration forces NASA to hold up educational and outreach efforts"

reply to post by surfin4it

Can anyone confirm or debunk this news? Or find a copy of the memo? Analysis and insight are most wlecome, political rants and ignorance are not.

This confirms it and contains the memo from NASA Public Affairs .

In an internal memo issued on the evening of Friday, March 22, the Administration notes that “effective immediately, all education and public outreach activities should be suspended, pending further review. In terms of scope, this includes all public engagement and outreach events, programs, activities, and products developed and implemented by Headquarters, Mission Directorates, and Centers across the Agency, including all education and public outreach efforts conducted by programs and projects.”

“There’s a waiver process in place and there will be exemptions for mission activities…most activities will continue, I am confident of that,” Bob said. “But there are always things you can do better or more efficient, and these cuts are going to force the entire government to reduce services.” “The more money saved the more likely you can avoid furloughs and maintain safe mission operations, which is the agency’s priority,” Bob added.

Sequester Cancels NASA Outreach

I guess at a time when everyone's tightening their purse strings it makes sense for NASA to cut this rather than more important programs .

reply to post by gortex


Since obozo came in and said NASA'a mission statement is something about "making muslims feel good about themselves", I wrote NASA off as just another propaganda branch of this communist organization and do not give credence to anything "they" put out there.

They seriously didn't see the meteor that hit Russia? What else aren't they being honest about?

There have been no actual cuts in spending, sequester merely cut the rate of increase in the Federal budget year over year.

The sequester cuts are peanuts to the government. 85 billion, split between defense and civilian? That's not even 50 billion each.

From that we've lost tuition assistance, FAA towers, parks, public part of NASA... what a joke.

It could not be more obvious that these cuts are being intentionally shoved in front of our noses, apparently to make us feel bad for allowing them to happen.

As if any citizen of this country actually has any say or control over anything.
We just get punished.
What a joke.

reply to post by TheBlackTiger


Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosit are still getting their million dollar trips to get communion with the "new black pope", obozo still plays golf, amongst his many other duties. I'm sure the wooki in the white house is still getting thousands of dollars of food every week.

Maybe America is gearing for war with Iran, and is pulling every cent it can into Pentagon.

But yeah, NASA's budget is a pittance, there's no realy need to cut it.

reply to post by wildespace

Maybe America is gearing for war with Iran, and is pulling every cent it can into Pentagon.

I hope you're being sarcastic. The military is putting civilian contractors on mandatory unpaid furloughs.

But yeah, NASA's budget is a pittance, there's no realy need to cut it.

I agree. Nevertheless, there are quite a few things the Public Outreach folks can do to reduce their spending without cutting programs. (*cough cough* Take the train! *cough cough*)

Originally posted by Phage
Yes. The mandatory spending cuts will have broad impacts.

This seems to be an emergency measure, put in place until NASA can determine the full effects of the cuts.

I actually find some humor in this move by NASA... Nasa's budget is so miniscule as it is im not sure any cuts are going to make a difference...

It would be easier to just cut a black project for the savings...

The government needs to be reminded that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

Originally posted by Happy1
reply to post by gortex

 

They seriously didn't see the meteor that hit Russia?

Seriously. What is with all the people who think we have perfect detection capabilities of 17 meter asteroids even (especially) on the day side of earth? I don't get it. I guess I underestimated how much public ignorance there is about astronomy. This latest development isn't going to help matters.

What else aren't they being honest about?

Cart before the horse. You assumed they weren't being honest about the Russian meteor when in fact there's no reason at all to think that they knew about it ahead of time.

Originally posted by ngchunter
I guess I underestimated how much public ignorance there is about astronomy. This latest development isn't going to help matters.

I underestimated this too seeing as how shocked I was to learn that 20% of Americans think the sun orbits the Earth.

I wonder if cutting public outreach might result in more budget cuts? They may have no choice but without public support NASA's relatively small budget (compared to defense) may get cut even more.

It is good that NASA is going 'dark', apparently the went 'dumb' a long time ago. We still have NO MANNED SPACEFLIGHT capability. That's NASA's fault. So if they're not handing out little plastic NASA badges anymore, good. Manned space flight, that's the ball game. Everything else is can be done commercially, and manned space flight is a STRATEGIC imperative. NASA has a huge PR issue right now. I don't think they'll ever recover.

You would think that at this time, with the current budget crisis, NASA would want to do as much public outreach as possible. The public outreach and education programs are the best way to show the taxpayer what they are getting for their ridiculously small sacrifice (the NASA budget is a drop in the bucket compared to that of the Pentagon).

NASA is supposedly cutting travel and outreach in response to sequestration, but it seems like it is more for the sake of appearances. Because the agency already lost a lot of people due to the shuttle retirement, the only significant cuts were to come from science programs and large-scale construction projects. To many eyes, it looked like NASA was getting off easy, so these more visible cuts make it look like NASA is suffering as much as everybody else.

the need to privatize government programs and departments is proceeding quite nicely...maybe one day, our entire country will be run by AMERICANA, INC....next up, the privatization of the post office, the vouchers for medicare, and social security funded by the stock market.

Originally posted by jimmyx
the need to privatize government programs and departments is proceeding quite nicely...maybe one day, our entire country will be run by AMERICANA, INC....next up, the privatization of the post office, the vouchers for medicare, and social security funded by the stock market.

And why is this a bad thing? It's about time we returned to the solid principles this country was founded on.

Maybe they finally found extraterrestrial life

reply to post by jimmyx

the need to privatize government programs and departments is proceeding quite nicely...maybe one day, our entire country will be run by AMERICANA, INC....next up, the privatization of the post office, the vouchers for medicare, and social security funded by the stock market.

We already have that. The problem is that in order to be profitable. FedEx needs to use the Post Office to complete rural deliveries and health insurance companies cannot cover people with pre-existing conditions. Anyone whose IRA went down the tubes when the recession hit can tell you why funding your retirement by investing in the stock market is a dangerous proposition.

NASA warns that the cuts could affect the stop or detection of killer asteroids

All three experts agreed, however, that the budget cuts and furloughs involved with sequestration, the rounds of deep cutbacks to federal programs that were triggered by Congress and the White House’s inability to reach a budget deal by March 1, are wreaking havoc on current surveillance methods.

www.rawstory.com...

more to ponder
leolady