Barack Obama cotinues to take hits over Spaceflight

Previously, I talked about Senator Obama's education plan, and how it pulls money from Nasa's Constellation.  I am sure there are people who thought this wouldn't get wide coverage, and wouldn't cause that much discussion.  

They are wrong, and you can see the proof over at MSNBC's Cosmic Log.  Come over the fold with me

If your a regular reader of Space Revolution Diaries and News, or you are a big fan of science, no doubt you know of Cosmic Log, over at MSNBC.  Well, Alan Boyle, the editor of Cosmic Log, saw the controversy that had been raised by Obama's plan to fund education, through cutting Nasa's Constellation, and is reporting on it with the headlines "Space vs Education?"

Now, most of the time, people commenting in the space posts aren't too many.  And its not uncommon to see a conversation happen.  

However, whats happening on there now is more akin to what we see when the post is about evolution, or stem cells.  As I write this, the comments are on their 2nd page, with a total of 89 comments.  Multiple people have commented on this being a bad idea, and I've count around 10 people who have changed their vote, or are considering changing their vote, because of this.  

In addition, this story was picked up by Newsvine.com.  Now, I don't know much about Newsvine, so if they are some rightwing website, I apologize in advance.  However, they picked up the MSNBC story as well, and again you can see the comments coming out.

As I said in my previous piece, the main problem here is that Obama hasn't fleshed out his space policy.  Lack of knowledge is what usually causes mis-understandings, and if you read the comments, you can see a lot of mis-understandings on that page, and frankly, all we know is that Obama wants to pull money from NASA for education.  

I make that last point because, while I would love to see NASA get more money, I'd much rather see reform at Nasa, and would be willing to see NASA's budget reduced if we got reforms (and, yes, unfortunately this will probably mean a reduction in workforce, which people in Congress won't like).  But these decisions will have an impact as to whether Nasa encourages the development of a new industry, or whether it stifles it.  

Senator, if you are reading this, you need to thoughtfully address the issue of space policy, or you will continue to take hits, like what is happening over at Cosmic Log.  If you don't currently have someone who can educate you on space policy, now is the time to get someone (FWIW, I am available :D ).  

If you are a supporter of the Senator, call his campaign, and encourage him to develop a space policy (or else use his answer center).  And if you have any knowledge, or wish to defend him, head out there, to Cosmic Log and other places, and defend him