What do you think about NASA's new mission to make the Islamic world feel good about their contributions to science?

How about something that isn’t Fox News.

Typical Western arrogance to think that they are needed to give Moslims (or whoever else) a good feeling about themselves.
They might already feel good about their contributions, or maybe not, maybe they are just feeling modest about it (because they realize that inventions and the like are being made by all cultures, all around the world).

Waste of tax dollars.

@tinyfaery Nothing wrong with Fox News, you know. But since you asked so nicely, here.

Sounds patronizing and transparently disingenuous. Real collaboration with scientists from different cultures builds bridges. That is a wiser course of action.

@ChazMaz, what tax dollars? (Or are you talking about NASA in general.)

@Nullo, what “mission” are you talking about? Your title strikes me as misleading.

As for “outreach” to the Muslim world, I think that is a wonderful idea. Joint US and Soviet space programs helped heal lingering cold war resentment.

Here is NASA Admin. Charles Frank Bolden jr’s “mission”...

“the mission to reach out to Muslims is “perhaps foremost,” because it will help Islamic nations “feel good” about their scientific accomplishments.”

“NASA is not only a space exploration agency,” Bolden concluded, “but also an earth improvement agency.”

What were saying about tax dollars again?

Well, Bolden never called it a “mission,” the newspaper writer did.

I’ll concede that “mission” has a broad range of meanings, but it’s misleading to conflate the “goal” meaning (which is what he means) with an actual NASA mission, i.e. one that involves spending money and research to send something up into space.

Yikes…..I guess they want find job security in world peace.

We have already had muslim astronauts in space. I believe it was in 2007 we sent a Malaysian Muslim on a shuttle mission to the space station.

This is just an attempt to divert attention from the oil in the gulf.

How on earth would this be an attempt to divert attention from the oil in the gulf.

We are talking about the muslim astronaut now are we not?

I honestly don’t know. If you are claiming that sending a Muslim into space in 2007 is an attempt to divert attention from an oil spill that happened three years later, that would be fairly problematic.

I also don’t see how talking about outreach to the Muslim world is remotely an attempt to divert attention from the oil spill.

The outreach to send foreign nationals of all cultures into space has already been in effect since at least the Clinton administration.
Announcing it now as a new policy, directed at specific culture, is disingenuous.

While I agree with @tinyfaery that Fox is more of a propaganda outlet than news, in @Nullo‘s defense, here is a credible source for this. I suppose if it works to head off the trend for the more extreme of the Muslims to yearn for the 12th century, it’s worth a try. I don’t see what harm its going to do, and besides, it gives RWNJs something to yammer about without having to completely invent the story line.

What have they contributed to science in the last 500 years? Give me a break. One more reason to conclude that we are in truly deep shit.

@josie The fact that the grand days of the Muslim world leading scientific inquiry is long gone is exactly why it might improve them and the world were they to again become dedicate to progress instead of regressive thought.

So who has been stopping them for the last half a millennium? Certainly not me. Not you either. So let’s us use our smarts to expand science, and praise them when they discover a cool new way to get into space. Total bullshit

@josie I am not well versed in their culture, so I can’t answer that. But an educated guess would be their own cultural memes.

@Qingu I thought the article’s usage clever enough that I used it myself. In any case, “mission” is usable in this context.
—@ETpro And ABC is so much more trustworthy. :D Still, it’s odd that it doesn’t crop up in more sinister places.

@Nullo Yes, ABC is far more trustworthy than Fox. Fox is the only major US news outlet ever to have gone to court to defend their right to order reporters to knowingly lie to the public. They are a propaganda operation every bit as much as Pravda was a propaganda operation. Even the tactics are the same. The only difference is which way they each lean.

ABC, the NYT, LA Times, Washington Post employ teams of investigative journalist to fact check stories. They actually try to get the news right, not spin it right. And when they goof, they issue retractions instead of ramping up the volume.

@ETpro All journalists spin. Most simply don’t realize it.

@Nullo Only one major news organization deliberately, knowingly lies. That is a far cry from a reporter putting their personal take on a story.

No news organization is “more trustworthy” then another.
Excluding news sources like Al Jazeera

They all have a bottom line, (which is the same) and find the/their most effective twist in order to get viewership.

As the saying goes, “you can’t handle the truth.”

@ChazMaz That is simply not true. There are a number of news sources, Fox being one of the biggest but WorldNetDaily.com and DrudgeReport.com/ that have been caught again and again in lies yet refuse to withdraw or correct the story. Fox even went to court to preserve their right to force reporters to lie. No legitimate news organization has ever done such an egregious thing.

NASA should point out that in the history of science Muslim cultures played a key role. It was the Arabs who rediscovered the science and philosophies of the ancient Greek first. They brought their knowledge to Spain where many Arab science texts were translated to Latin. Then came Copernicus, Kepler, Galilei and Newton.

It’s a shame that most western history curricula do not show more appreciation for scientists like Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, Omar Khayyam, Al Battani, Al Faribi, Ibn al Haitham, Abu Bekr Muhammad al-Razi, Al Massudi and Abu Ali al Husein ibn Sina. All these great people were active between around 800 and 1200 CE. They loved critical thinking, they loved research and they loved debates. And they had far more freedom of speech and pluralism than their successors centuries later. Saudi-Arabia today is more oppressive than it was 800 years ago.

It’s time to revive the Islamic Golden Age.

@mattbrowne All true, until the last line. It is time for them, not us, to revive the Islamic Golden Age. NASA should be spending it’s budget exploring space. Any Middle Eastern Muslim who wants to begin the Islamic Renaissance is entitled to try. [Good Luck].

@josie – Of course Muslims themselves have to revive the Islamic Golden Age. Western countries can offer encouragement.

@mattbrowne But what does that have to do with NASA? I (and many other tax payers I suspect) would find it a little less annoying and silly if the Sec of State made contrived feel good statements about the Muslim world than the top dog at a hard science ministry. That’s all.

@josie – Good point. But overall, building bridges is the right thing to do.

NASA has a new mission… not to go to space but to kiss ass… after all our president is but one man and can’t do it alone…

@Tomfafa So far, I have never met a form of bigotry I like. Islam may someday disabuse me of that. But so far, I am glad we are doing what we can to build positive relations with Islam. If the effort fails and radical Islam wins all the Muslim hearts and minds, at least let it not be because we helped the radicals with our own radical rhetoric directed toward a billion people because a few of them are evil.

@ETpro Not sure what you said but right on! There has got to be another agency that can help NASA… Like HUD… or Dept of Agriculture… Motor Vehicle?

Maybe NASA is helping minister farakan find the mother ship? There4 are imams demanding we not the space shuttle during ramadon… maybe it interferes with direct talks to allah.

@Tomfafa Ha! You’re way over my head in Islamic theology on that one. We’ll see what the next space exploration fatwa has to say.