Thursday, February 16, 2006

Science Openness?

Griffin has since promised scientific openness and changes in public affairs policy. Sherwood Boehlert, the Republican chairman of the House Science Committee, said today that Congressional regulators will be watching the agency's internal inquiry into the matter and expects to see policy changed to prevent a repeat of recent incidents.

"I have high hopes NASA will end up being a model of how agencies can gaurantee scientific openness," Boehlert said in a statement praising Griffin for tackling the issue.

The top Democrat on the committee, Bart Gordon of Tennessee, also said he was heartened to hear that NASA was taking the specific case of global warming scientist James Hansen seriously.

However, Gordon said he is concerned that the Hansen incident is just one of many similar incidents throughout the federal government's science-related agencies. He said strict political control of science results "permeates this entire administration."
The members of the committee, in their opening statements, unanimously expressed concerns about NASA's intention to move $2 billion worth of science funding to pay for the 17 or so space shuttle


HT Florida Today

Links from Space Politics on the NASA hearings today here.

No comments: