Nice set up Rand.

You certainly point up the fact that important information should be verified and validated if one wants to use it as the foundation of an important argument.

Rand Simberg asked – “And why do you suppose that Buzz didn’t do that?”

You said – “Because Buzz knew he would’ve been in the Lion’s den, pure and simple.”

Unfortunately, not so pure and simple.

Matt, do you know who chooses the people that testify in front of Congress? Once you find that out, you’ll understand why Buzz did not testify.

Oh, and considering how much media exposure Buzz has had recently, I don’t think you can call him shy, and he certainly has defended his ideas in front of much smarter people than Senators and Congressmen.

“As long as the administration’s original plan was perceived as being anti-HSF”

You fail to understand that part of the reason it was perceived that way was because opponents of the plan pushed that idea.

NASA’s comparison charts showing the number of HSF days in space between Constellation and their proposed budget was ignored by those that wanted Constellation, and instead they labeled it as “abandoning” space. Just because NASA et al had bad initial marketing doesn’t mean you have to drink the opponents Kool-Aid.

Bzzzzzzzt…

Thanks for playing. And revealing your utter ignorance of how Congressional hearings work.

Buzz didn’t do that because he wasn’t invited.

Ferris: again, the issue was one of perception. As long as the administration’s original plan was perceived as being anti-HSF, or that Garver was seen as the driving force behind that, the opposition to the administration’s proposals can be explained to some degree. Bolden admitted that he hadn’t been able to brief Senators and Congressmen before the rollout, and that he ignored advice from his PR people on how to handle the rollout. Both of which Bolden took the rap for. Even after POTUS’ speech at the Cape, there was still significant opposition, which resulted in the Senate’s own plan, which was passed by both houses and will be signed into law.

And why do you suppose that Buzz didn’t do that?

There were congressmen and senators saying just that. Along with a number of former astronauts.

And so? I mean, stop the presses – a congressman said something that wasn’t true. Because it wasn’t true that Lori wanted to all of HSF to the private sector

And the fact that they weren’t asked to testify says something more about congress, rather than the administration. Like they don’t want to have a real debate.

Was that supposed to be a response to what I said? Those former astronauts were octogenerians who hadn’t been paying attention to what was going on, and were energized by the clueless, or the venal. And many congressmen are idiots.

A lot of factors at work here: desire to protect one’s constitutents, anger at not being consulted or advised prior to rollout (Bolden’s admitted that failure was his fault in the last Senate hearing), distrust of the commercial sector being able to do what they’re being asked to do, and so on.

All it takes to put the moon back on the agenda for a landing before the asteroid mission is confirmed intelligence that the ChiComs (or Russia, or India, take your pick) have a lunar landing program in the works. The pressure on NASA to get back first would be intense from the Hill.