# It's Mike Griffin for NASA Administrator **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 12, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251 "2005-03-12T22:35:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/1 "2005-03-12T22:35:28Z")
It has been announced that Mike Griffin will be nominated to succeed Sean O’Keefe as NASA Administrator. Is this good for NASA and the nation? My initial reaction is guarded optimism. I’m strongly in favor of the Moon-Mars program, and Griffin is not only a scientist and engineer but also appears to have [vision](http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=10683). And it’s not Dan Goldin-style vision. If Congress asked him what he’d do with more money, he might actually have an answer. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/2 "2005-03-12T22:52:12Z")
Well, the [Bad Astronomer](http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=20257) seems to approve of the choice… He’s probably the most technically knowledgeable guy that will ever have been appointed adminstrator of NASA, and he’s got a reputation as a pull-no-punches guy who says what he believes, even if it’s politically incorrect. Seems like a good appointment to me. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/3 "2005-03-12T23:08:35Z")
Bound to be a better choice than [Peter Griffin](http://bwish.myrmid.com/ArtJustin/Painting/Painting_PeterGriffin.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/4 "2005-03-12T23:30:42Z")
Hell, he can’t do a worse job. And if BA likes him, that’s a major plus in my book. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/5 "2005-03-14T05:40:48Z")
It’s about time NASA had a director who really understands what space travel is **for,** and that it’s about things even more important than expanding humanity’s scientific knowledge! (See this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262764](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262764)) Ad Astra! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/6 "2005-03-14T06:56:14Z")
Upon further study, he looks like a GREAT choice. The space community is abuzz with this one. For example: **Mars Society President Robert Zubrin:** > [@](#): > > Mike Griffin is a superb choice for NASA Administrator. I have known Mike for more than a decade. He is a real leader who is technically brilliant, highly creative, open minded to new ideas, well- experienced, and deeply committed for many years to the success of the American space program - emphatically including the new vision of reaching for human exploration of the Moon and Mars. > > The Bush administration is to be commended for this inspired selection. There is literally no one better qualified to lead the new space initiative than Mike Griffin. For the job of 11th NASA Administrator, Mike is the right man, in the right place, at the right time. As President of the Mars Society, I offer him our full support. **Science Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN)**: > [@](#): > > I am pleased with the President’s nomination of Dr. Michael Griffin to be the next NASA Administrator. He has earned a reputation for technical expertise, managerial competence, and integrity. He will need all of those attributes in his new position. I look forward to working with him to address the challenges facing NASA. **House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert (R-CA):** > [@](#): > > Chairman Boehlert said, “We are extremely pleased that the President has nominated Mike Griffin to be NASA Administrator. Dr. Griffin has long been a resource to the Science Committee, both as a public witness and in providing private counsel. He has broad expertise, knows NASA inside and out, and is an imaginative and creative thinker and leader. He is also known for his candor and directness. We look very forward to working with Dr. Griffin at this critical time for NASA.” > > Chairman Calvert said, “I want to congratulate Dr. Griffin on his appointment as administrator of NASA. President Bush could not have made a better selection. His background in academia, technical research, government service and the private sector is just what NASA needs as we move forward with the President’s Vision, commercial human spaceflight, unmanned robotic space exploration and returning the shuttle to flight. I have every confidence that he is the right leader for the right time in NASA’s future.” **The Space Foundation:** > [@](#): > > "Dr. Griffin brings impressive technical expertise and the right leadership skills and experience to the job of NASA administrator. Once confirmed, he will take the helm of an agency that has been set on the right track by the White House and by the outgoing administrator. But much of the difficult job of transforming NASA remains ahead. Rice bowls need to be smashed, walls torn down, finances put in order. Under performing or non-value added enterprises within the agency need to be outsourced, reinvented or eliminated. > > “It is clear that this Administration is committed to a relevant and meaningful space exploration program. The challenge to Dr. Griffin will be in reshaping NASA so the agency is indeed relevant and meaningful, and articulating a persuasive, non- partisan political imperative for the agency that all Americans can rally behind.” [The Planetary Society:](http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=16377) > [@](#): > > Planetary Society leaders applaud the choice of Michael Griffin as proposed NASA Administrator, as announced today by President Bush. The appointment comes as Congress debates America’s role in space - a role that was changed last year by the Administration’s new policy focusing U.S. space goals on human and robotic exploration of the solar system. > > Planetary Society President, Wes Huntress said, “Mike is an excellent choice because of his passion for space exploration, his technical expertise and his long experience in space flight engineering. He resonates with the President’s new vision for space and will add a down-to-earth insistence on logic and realism.” Huntress served as NASA Associate Administrator from 1992 to 1998. > … > Louis Friedman, Society Executive Director, noted, “The new exploration vision for space policy is a radical change for NASA operations. Mike Griffin can provide the strong leadership required to turn this vision into reality.” > > The Planetary Society strongly recommends the early retirement of the space shuttle, an early completion of the new Crew Exploration Vehicle, development of a heavy-lift launch vehicle using shuttle rocket components, and a strong focus on the Mars exploration goal as a driver for the intermediate milestones at the Moon or elsewhere. > > Griffin is a strong advocate for space exploration. His broad background includes civil, military and commercial space experience. Prior to his current job as Director of Space at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, he has been Associate Administrator for Exploration at NASA, Vice President at Orbital Space Systems, and a Deputy Director for Technology of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. He has also worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on planetary missions. > > Neil Tyson, Chair of The Planetary Society Board and a member of the President’s Commission on Implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration, said " The tasks we set forth for NASA in our Commission report requires the likes of Mike Griffin to lead and accomplish. This appointment is the right choice, at the right time, and for all the right reasons. The Planetary Society’s Board strongly supports Griffin’s appointment as the new NASA Administrator." **The National Space Society:** > [@](#): > > “Dr. Griffin is a superb choice to lead NASA at this critical moment. Dr. Griffin’s extensive space experience and bold leadership style will create a powerful driver for implementation of the vision for space exploration.” > > “Mike is well known for combining a deep passion for space with a rigorous commitment to no-nonsense management. That is exactly what NASA needs now.” I hope some of you who were skeptical about Bush’s commitment to space will finally agree that Bush is doing more for NASA than any president has done since at least the 1980’s. He threatened a veto (his first) to make sure NASA got every nickel it requested this year, and now he’s appointed a fantastic administrator. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/7 "2005-03-14T15:04:31Z")
> [@Statement By Michael D. Griffin - House Science Committee Hearing: "Perspectives on the President's Vision for Space Exploration"](#): > > NASA should initiate development of a heavy lift launch vehicle having a payload capacity of at least 100 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO). Such a vehicle is the single most important physical asset enabling human exploration of the solar system. The use of shuttle-derived systems offers what is quite likely to be the most costeffective near-term approach. Swoon. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/8 "2005-03-14T15:27:43Z")
We’ll see what he decides to do about continued support for the Hubble and Voyager missions, both of which O’Keefe had decided to sack. Then I’ll post what I think of him. I’m all for trying to restart our manned space program (and phasing out the LEO stuff), but it shouldn’t come at the expense of the very succsessful, cost effective, publically popular and much less pie in the sky unmanned missions that NASA has undertaken. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/9 "2005-03-14T15:41:15Z")
A quote from the new administrator ( **Brainglutton** especially should like this one): > [@](#): > > “So, recognizing that others may differ, for me the single overarching goal of human space flight is the human settlement of the solar system, and eventually beyond. I can think of no lesser purpose sufficient to justify the difficulty of the enterprise, and no greater purpose is possible.” ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/10 "2005-03-14T22:36:32Z")
Here’s a good article on Mike Griffin: [Getting to know Michael Griffin](http://www.thespacereview.com/article/339/1) > [@](#): > > The news of Griffin’s nomination has been met with an all-but-unanimous chorus of praise from industry groups, advocacy organizations, and, most importantly in the immediate term, members of Congress, particularly senators who must confirm Griffin. The confirmation process is widely believed to be brisk, given the noncontroversial nature of the nomination, and may be wrapped up within a month. > > **Unabashed Supporter** > > In October 2003 Griffin appeared before the full House Science Committee to discuss “The Future of Human Space Flight”. Griffin, calling himself “an unabashed supporter of space exploration in general, and of human space flight in particular,” laid out his vision for the future of NASA. His top-level approach was strikingly similar to what was already under development behind closed doors at NASA and the White House. “So, to me,” he said in his prepared remarks, “the proper sequence for exploration is the moon, then Mars, and then the asteroids.” > > Griffin reiterated that point when he appeared before the same committee less than five months later as a witness for a hearing on the Vision for Space Exploration, where Griffin backed the general scope of the vision. “Of the possible venues of human activity beyond LEO, only the moon, Mars, and the nearer asteroids are within reach of the next few generations,” he said in his opening statement. “And that is where the President’s vision has directed us. It is the right path.” In short, Griffin supports the development of a heavy-lift craft, perhaps based on the Shuttle system (replacing the orbiter itself with a cargo pod), eliminating the Shuttle as quickly as possible, and getting out of ISS commitments as quickly as possible. Then NASA can focus on its primary job of exploration - opening up the solar system to eventual human colonization. Heinlein would have loved this guy. ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/11 "2005-03-14T23:34:06Z")
I’ve not really followed space exploration since my pre-teen years; I’d given up on this generation for space travel. But the quotes you guys provide rock my world. Mike Griffin rocks my world. I went out an expanded my world a bit, and then he rocked that, too. Scientific credentials! Human colonization! Thanks for posting this, **Sam Stone**. [sub]No, I can’t provide a debate either. Anybody?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/12 "2005-03-15T14:51:01Z")
[Shuttle C](http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/shuttlec.htm) > [@](#): > > LEO Payload: 77,000 kg. to: 400 km Orbit [IHLLV](http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/ihllv.htm) > [@](#): > > Payload: 77,000 kg. to: 400 km Orbit. [Ares](http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/ares.htm) > [@](#): > > LEO Payload: 121,200 kg. to: 300 km Orbit. at: 28.5 degrees. Payload: 47,200 kg. to a: trans-Mars trajectory Well it’s no wonder that Zubrin loves the guy. He’s effectively proposing the start of Zubrin’s Mars Direct plan with 100 metric ton launch capacity. The question is what role does a 100 ton launch vehicle have outside of placing payloads in lunar or Martian orbit? Typical Titan 4B’s throw around 25 tons to LEO. Well that and what is the plan for Prometheus and JIMO? Anyone have any details on those? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/13 "2005-03-15T16:42:46Z")
As of now, I believe that Prometheus has been scaled back slightly, and JIMO has been axed. JIMO was axed not because of lack of funding, but because the engineers decided it was just too tough to fly on any reasonable schedule. I hope both of these make a comeback under the new administrator. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/14 "2005-03-15T17:05:21Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > I hope some of you who were skeptical about Bush’s commitment to space will finally agree that Bush is doing more for NASA than any president has done since at least the 1980’s. Remains to be seen, doesn’t it? All the plans in the world don’t mean dick if the money isn’t there, and it won’t be there if he doesn’t lobby for it himself. Surely you understand that very deep skepticism is warranted. > [@](#): > > He threatened a veto (his first) to make sure NASA got every nickel it requested this year, and now he’s appointed a fantastic administrator. He _sounds_ good, but we haven’t seen him in practice yet. As for the funding, how much did NASA ask for? Enough to keep the Hubble in service, or replace it? Enough to meet our obligations on the ISS? Enough to restore basic aeronautics research? Has the bar been lowered enough yet that some lofty words will suffice? As the old Earth proverb goes, “Show me the money”. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/15 "2005-03-15T21:26:52Z")
What do you mean, “In practice”? Congress already tried to cut NASA’s budget, and Bush threatened to veto an entire omnibus appropriations bill unless they restored every penny of funding that NASA asked for. That’s not taking action? That’s not demonstrating commitment? Come on, give the guy some credit. Under Bush, NASA has seen its funding increase dramatically. Under Clinton, NASA was stagnating and going nowhere. Under Bush, NASA has been revitalized, with a new mission and a fantastic new administrator. I have no idea what else you expect him to do. NASA was given substantial funding increases in a budget that saw most agencies get no increase or even decreases in funding. If Bush weren’t serious, here’s what he would have done - he would have announced this great vision for political purposes, but given NASA only enough funds to ‘study’ it. A few hundred million, perhaps. He would have left the agency as-is, rather than demanding sweeping changes in its structure. He would have left an administrator in charge who didn’t really believe in the vision and who could be counted on to drag his feet. A couple of years down the road, he could make a big show of awarding some ‘preliminary’ contracts to the usual suspects. And eventually, with wide enough specifications and no focus, some white-elephant of a ‘plan’ would have emerged that would be hideously expensive. By then, Bush would be nearing the end of his second term and could walk away from the whole thing. You know, like most Presidents have done with NASA since the 1970’s. Bush didn’t do that. He announced sweeping reforms, demanded that they begin being implemented NOW, pushed for huge funding increases, restructured the agency around the new vision so there would be no turning back, and demanded hard timetables and narrow requirements that had a chance to succeed. Then he appointed an administrator who shares that vision and has been a tireless advocate for a greatly expanded space program for decades. One who has wide respect all through the space community and both sides of Congress. Not some ineffectual, non-engineer manager like Dan Goldin. Bush has done everything he possibly ccould. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/16 "2005-03-16T03:51:18Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > What do you mean, “In practice”? Congress already tried to cut NASA’s budget, and Bush threatened to veto an entire omnibus appropriations bill unless they restored every penny of funding that NASA asked for. That’s not taking action? That’s not demonstrating commitment? Come on, give the guy some credit. You know what a threatened Bush veto means. > [@](#): > > Under Bush, NASA has seen its funding increase dramatically. Under Clinton, NASA was stagnating and going nowhere. Somebody please tell me it’s not my turn this time. > [@](#): > > If Bush weren’t serious, here’s what he would have done - he would have announced this great vision for political purposes, but given NASA only enough funds to ‘study’ it. So far, that’s all we’ve got. > [@](#): > > Bush has done everything he possibly ccould. He’s been in office as long as the entire space program from low Earth orbit to the first Moon trips already. Tell me more about what’s “possible”. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/17 "2005-03-17T17:00:05Z")
If NASA has gotten every penny they asked for then someone higher up in NASA is a masochist. Thought their actual budget has increased, so much more money is being diverted to space that they are ripping their aeronautics programs to shreds. Wind tunnels are being closed down left and right at Langley, and will be torn down shortly. Techs are being laid off left and right there (as well as several other NASA facilities) and the engineers are going to go next year (those who haven’t already been forced into early retirement). Also, they have traditionally gotten supplemental funding for specific projects, with the money earmarked for those projects. That supplemental funding has disappeared, but the requirements are still there, so NASA has to divert more of its dwindling aeronautics budget to fund them before it can do any other research. All of this when we as a nation have already fallen behind europe in our aeronautics technology. Sure, this appointment does look great for the space side of NASA, but it is entirely possible that that is all there will be in a couple years. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/18 "2005-03-18T01:00:09Z")
And then there are some who are not so enamored of Griffin ``` [Arms Control Wonk](http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/index.php?id=479) ``` He’s a neo, that’s for sure… ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/19 "2005-03-19T02:40:49Z")
Another one with a cool opinion of Griffin is [physicist Bob Park](http://www.aps.org/WN/WN05/wn031805.cfm): > [@](#): > > 1. THE VISION: AEROSPACE ENGINEER PICKED TO LEAD NASA TO MARS. > Described in media stories as a Johns Hopkins physicist, Michael D. Griffin is at the Applied Physics Lab, a government contract lab far from the campus, and although he has a B.A. in physics, his Ph.D. is in Aerospace Engineering from the Univ. of Maryland. During the Reagan years he was Deputy for Technology of SDI (Star Wars), which managed to squander $30B on mythical weapons. Eighteen months ago, Griffin testified before the House Science Committee on “The Future of Human Space Flight”. He began by invoking Queen Isabella and Columbus. OK, so he’s not very original, but the Columbus mission was to find a short cut to plunder the riches of the East. That is just the sort of sound conservative economics the universe needs. But maybe, before we settle the rest of the solar system as Griffin proposes, we might want to ask our robots if there are any riches out there to plunder. Meanwhile, it probably wouldn’t hurt to take better care of this planet. These other places don’t look that great. And, outside of the happy world that **Sam Stone** talks about where Bush gives NASA big increases and fights then Congress that tries to cut NASA, there is the real world where the redirection at NASA is cutting some programs badly, like [aeronautics](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050316/ap_on_sc/nasa_budget) (and [here](http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/11150711.htm)) and [other things](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38103-2005Mar15_2.html) and Congress is questioning these cuts: > [@](#): > > “The budget is a disaster,” said John M. Klineberg, a retired NASA manager who led a National Research Council group that examined NASA’s aeronautics programs. “This program (NASA) is on its way to becoming irrelevant to the future of aeronautics in this country and in the world.” > [@](#): > > Meanwhile, researchers from Ohio State University and MIT warned that Bush’s proposed budget cuts to aeronautics also threaten the country’s future work force of aviation engineers. > > “The budget pressures on NASA are at the point of potentially creating a technology void in the future,” said Mike Benzakein, chairman of the Aerospace Engineering Department at Ohio State. “It is important that this be turned around.” ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251/20 "2005-03-19T16:55:36Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > Another one with a cool opinion of Griffin is [physicist Bob Park](http://www.aps.org/WN/WN05/wn031805.cfm): Park has built a career out of naysaying human spaceflight. If Wernher von Braun rose from the grave and took over NASA, Park would whine about it. Robots are great, but what it comes down to is that the public wants to (a) have a chance of going to space, or, failing that, (b) send someone to space so he/she can tell us what it’s like. Robots can send plenty of data, but they can never tell us _what it is like to walk on another world_. There have always been Bob Parks around, but until recently, nobody took them seriously. Good thing, too, otherwise there would be a severe overpopulation crisis in East Africa by now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mike-griffin-for-nasa-administrator/294251.md?page=2)