Rene-NASA-Mooned-America

By Invitation Only / Chap. 16 p. 139
BY INVITATION ONLY
Shortly after I started writing this book, NASA sent me, believe it or not, a special
invitation to attend one of a series of six national "town meetings" scheduled over the course
of six weeks. I drooled at the opportunity to ask a few direct questions. However, whether by
plan or accident, that invitation was a day late and a dollar short as the old bromide goes. I
received it at my home in New Jersey on November 23, 1992.
The "town meetings" were scheduled to be held on the following dates:
Raleigh, NC November 09 Hartford, CT November 17
Indianapolis, IN November 20 Carson, CA December 03
Tampa, FL December 11 Seattle, WA December 16
Unfortunately NASA used my previous address in Florida. Forwarding the letter by the
post office as shown by the date on the forwarding stamp, took an extra 2 days. The letter
was first postmarked on November 17 th . That date precluded my attending both the Raleigh
or the relatively close Hartford "town meetings." Since I wasn't about to fly to Tampa (on
Florida's west coast) for a NASA "town meeting", I missed the opportunity of causing them
an anxiety attack.
Then, I glanced at the date of their letter and really got angry! The letter was dated
October 13 th ! I responded with a letter to Goldin, NASA administrator, complaining about
the fact that their invitation lay buried somewhere for 36 days. What I asked for (sort of a
consolation prize) was a copy of the picture found on the cover of this book. In due time I
received a reply from Douglas Isbell, who sort of apologized, but complained about some of
my language. I had dared to call the jerk who failed to mail the letter for 36 days a "lazy
person". Isbell never did send me the picture.
If my invitation was typical, then NASA stacked their "town meeting" by inviting only
those who they felt were NASA believers and sympathizers. However, on May 27, 1993, I
did receive a full size, 64-page NASA brochure titled " 1992 TOWN MEETINGS" and subtitled
"Toward a Shared Vision." These "town meetings" were created to share NASA's
public relations' pipe dreams with the people.
The pamphlet showed that the meetings were more on the order of propaganda conventions
than "town meetings". I say this because of the preponderance of highly favorable
quotations from participants scattered liberally throughout the booklet. The first thing we
find is a message from Daniel S. Goldin, NASA's administrator, to the effect that the meetings
were a "resounding success." 1
A few pages later, is a statement to the effect that once again the tail has wagged the
NASA dog. 2
"Goldin ended his talk by outlining the underlying rationale for the NASA vision
that has emerged from the Agency's employees. This rationale has four major themes:
NASA MOONED AMERICA! / Rene