NASA’s grand ambitions aren’t its own, and are at the expense of science, says our columnist Phil Ball

NASA’s administrator Michael Griffin must have one of the least desirable jobs going.

Since he took the post a little over a year ago, he has been forced to announce budget cuts for basic science in the US space programme that have infuriated researchers (see ‘US space scientists rage over axed projects’), has reluctantly had to accede to fulfilling commitments to the beleaguered and unpopular International Space Station (ISS), and has been accused of being a yes-man for a governmental agenda that values stagy manned space projects over real science.

Read more here

NASA’s grand ambitions aren’t its own, and are at the expense of science, says our columnist Phil Ball

NASA’s administrator Michael Griffin must have one of the least desirable jobs going.

Since he took the post a little over a year ago, he has been forced to announce budget cuts for basic science in the US space programme that have infuriated researchers (see ‘US space scientists rage over axed projects’), has reluctantly had to accede to fulfilling commitments to the beleaguered and unpopular International Space Station (ISS), and has been accused of being a yes-man for a governmental agenda that values stagy manned space projects over real science.

Read more here