The name James Hansen is well known among climate modelers as the man who is most responsible for the global warming models that predict the planetary catastrophe highlighted by former Vice President Al Gore. Somewhere along his illustrious career path, Hansen turned from a scientist to an activist; leading many to believe that there was a secondary agenda at play in his continuing research. Hansen’s employer and a significant contributor to the prestige which Hansen holds in some circles is NASA:  the esteemed National Aeronautics and Space Administration. An Executive-branch agency funded by taxpayer’s money.

As an astronomer and head of NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS),  Dr. James Hansen has become a champion of the global warming movement.  His extreme views and outlandish claims have focused a great deal of attention on him; nearly as much as similar positions of Al Gore, the self-appointed spokesman for the cause. The original mission of NASA’s GISS was to conduct studies on planetary atmospheres using data from telescopes and space probes.  In the last two decades under Dr. Hansen’s leadership that mission has changed to become, “prediction of atmospheric and climate changes in the 21st century.”  In other words, it has gone from studying other planets to studying our own planet.  Certainly the research GISS now conducts fits within the role that has evolved for it and as the head of the organization, it is expected that Hansen would be a voice for it. However, rather than providing an objective and scientific voice to the studies GISS conducts, recent years have seen Dr. Hansen blur the line between scientist and advocate. He has taken to writing editorials in foreign publications taking foreign governments to task for their policy decisions.  He has accused the Bush administration of trying to silence him – a fact that was repudiated by his supervisor.  He has urged criminal trials for the executives of energy companies for spreading doubt about manmade climate change.  He has advocated for the acquittal of Greenpeace activists that damaged a coal fired power plant saying the power plant was more damaging.  <Source>

What is NASA’s prime mission under the Obama Administration?

Is it Muslim outreach?

Astronaut Charles F. Bolden, NASA’s Administrator at a news conference …

Bolden: “I am here in the region - its sort of the first anniversary of President Barack Obama's visit to Cairo - and his speech there when he gave what has now become known as Obama's ‘Cairo Initiative’ where he announced that he wanted this to become a new beginning of the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world. When I became the NASA Administrator - before I became the NASA Administrator - he charged me with three things: One was that he wanted me to re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, that 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 predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.”

Of course, we seem to have learned that the Middle Eastern Muslims have contributed little or nothing to the modern science of Aeronautics and Space exploration. All of their achievements, mostly derived from the work of others, have been expropriated for offensive weaponry; hardly an admirable situation and one that should not be feted by a high-ranking representative of the United States. However, in Charlie Bolden’s defense, he has always been a military team-player (former Marine Corps Major General) and I have very little doubt in my mind that his Muslim-related remarks were at the behest (and probably scripting) of President Obama and his fellow travelers.

After the kerfuffle involving an apparent change of NASA’s mission to include a “Muslim outreach effort,” we are wondering why funds continue to be diverted from NASA’s primary mission of advancing space exploration into programs involving global climate change.  

Is it the continued promotion of global climate change?

Newswise.com is reporting …

“A new study funded by NASA will look at whether climate change on three continents could be affecting the way fire behaves in North America, South America, and Australia.”

“A National Aeronautics and Space Administration grant of $1,950,135 will fund the three-year project. Researchers will analyze satellite data, as well as historical climate and fire data, for the entire continent of Australia, the lower 48 states in North America, and the Brazilian Amazon region in South America.”

“Principal investigator Mark Cochrane of South Dakota State University said the idea is that climate change could change the vegetation and hydrology in affected regions, perhaps resulting in more droughts and periods of intense fire behavior.” <Source>

We should realize that the research itself is part of a pattern of commercializing NASA discoveries and data for the benefit of mankind. And that the amount of the grant is no more than a rounding error in NASA’s overall budget. But that should not detract from discovering a pattern of benign neglect which could kill NASA’s capabilities. 

Is it weakening NASA’s capabilities?

I am both saddened and embarrassed to find that the United States is spending significant amounts of taxpayer funds on the hoax that is global warming … while we must depend on the Russians to taxi our astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

NASA doesn't know yet where it will get the money, but on Thursday the space agency officially added another space shuttle launch to its schedule -- the final one for the fleet. The space agency set a target launch date of June 28 for shuttle Atlantis and started preparations for the 135th and last shuttle flight. The four-member crew will take up supplies to the International Space Station, make one spacewalk and return a faulty pump that has bedeviled engineers. Now three missions remain before NASA retires its shuttle fleet this year. Shuttle Discovery's last mission is slated for Feb. 24, Endeavour's in April. Thursday's move allows different parts of the shuttle program to start work on Atlantis' 12-day flight, including astronaut training and mission planning, NASA spokesman Michael Curie said. Originally, Atlantis was planned as an emergency-only rescue mission if needed for the Endeavour crew. Last year, the Obama administration and Congress clashed over the future of the human space program and came up with a compromise that authorized one extra flight of the shuttle -- the Atlantis mission. But Congress never gave NASA the few hundred million dollars needed for the extra flight. That left NASA in a quandary about whether the flight was real or not. <Source>

NASA has signed a new $335 million contract with Russia to buy six extra seats on Soyuz spacecraft to launch American and partner astronauts into space after the space shuttle fleet is retired, the space agency announced Tuesday. The new deal allows NASA to pay the Russian Federal Space Agency for six round-trip rides to and from the International Space Station in2013 and 2014. That averages to about $55.8 million per trip ? a slight increase from the $50 million NASA paid for seats on the Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft through 2012. After NASA's three-orbiter space shuttle fleet is retired this fall, American space flyers will have to rely on Russia for space transportation until U.S. commercial firms can build spaceships capable of carrying humans. <Source>

Depending on the goodwill of the Russians – with the possibility that they could place an all-Russian crew on the station and reap a significant military and media advantage?

Bottom line …

Given President Obama’s apparent viewpoint on multi-culturalism, moral equivalency and the unexceptionalism among other nations, one wonders if Obama is deliberately weakening one of America’s crowning achievements: our space program.

Using the tw0-edged sword of NASA to promote the social and political agenda that is global climate change –based on nothing more than an unproven hypothesis – while simultaneously weakening our national space program; which in turn weakens our military’s defensive missile systems.

Spending billions of dollars smoke and mirrors while the very real and necessary skillsets of our talented rocketeers atrophy with age. Much in the same way America lost a major share of its industrial capacity – which is now outsourced to other nations whose friendliness toward the United States depends on the whim of their politicians.

A situation which must be remedied in 2012 lest it affect the future prestige and military posture of the United States and hamper the scientific achievement which makes America the most exceptional nation in the history of the world.

-- steve

Research Links …

NASA-Funded Study Tracks Climate Change on Three Continents