NASA STORY LIFTS OFF – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:  Yesterday we brought you the exciting news that part of NASA's new mission in the age of Barack Hussein Obama Jr. will be outreach to the Muslim world.  I know, I know.  Think of John Glenn.  Think of going to the moon.  Think of...Muslim outreach.

The story of this policy, announced by Obama's hand-picked chief of NASA, Charles Bolden, is going viral.  It's all over the place, and is being met by appropriate shock, dismay and large servings of revulsion.  Byron York at the Washington Examiner extends the story:

"When I became the NASA administrator, [Obama] charged me with three things," NASA head Charles Bolden said in a recent interview with the Middle Eastern news network al-Jazeera. "One, he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering."

From moon landings to promoting self-esteem: It would be difficult to imagine a more dramatic shift in focus for an agency famous for reaching the heavens. Bolden's words left supporters of space exploration astonished. "Everyone had the same impression: Is this what he is spending his time on?" says a Republican Hill aide who tracks the space program. "A lot of people are very upset about it."

And...

Bolden's words, together with the president's decision to scrap much of NASA's mission and include the agency in the "Cairo Initiative" -- that is, the White House outreach program outlined in Obama's June 4, 2009, Cairo speech to the Muslim world -- show that the NASA of the future will be little like the past.

And get this gem:

"NASA is not only a space exploration agency," Bolden concluded, "but also an Earth improvement agency."

Oh how moving.  I'm close to tears.  Let me get my Kleenex.   Sure, NASA is an Earth improvement agency, and it's improved the Earth through good science, technical innovation, and exploration.  I don't think Muslim outreach makes the list.

At the same time, Bolden gave a bleak assessment of the space part of NASA's mission. More than 40 years after the first moon landing, he told al-Jazeera, the U.S. can no longer reach beyond Earth's orbit without assistance from abroad. "We're not going to go anywhere beyond low Earth orbit as a single entity," Bolden said. "The United States can't do it."

And the hard left, of which Obama is a part, loves that.  Just loves that.

Its space initiatives junked, its administrator rhapsodizing about helping Muslims "feel good" about themselves: That is the new NASA.

COMMENT:  And, of course, Republicans have been their usual articulate selves in opposing this obscenity.  This can grow into a major issue for them, if they center it properly.  Come on, fellas.

July 6, 2010