Universe, Discovered weekly newsletter from Dave Eicher, editor-in-chief of Astronomy wrote about the Trump administration’s declaration of pursuit of “manifest destiny into the stars”, saying “Manifest Destiny” of course refers to the 19th-Century American movement that fueled the expansion of the United States across the continent to seize territory, displace Native Americans, cook up a war with Mexico, and justify border disputes and the annexation of Texas to push the boundaries of the United States as far as possible.” Dave Eicher continued by mentioning that “the White House announced Janet Petro as acting administrator until Jared Isaacman is installed. This surprised many who assumed that James Free, NASA’s current associate administrator, would serve as acting administrator.”
I have to mention that this is the culmination of far too many astronomy and physics scientists and enthusiasts falling for the big lie of tech tycoon worship and thinking that the way forward was privatization kissing up to big business and tycoons instead of doing the type of research that led to the innovations and technological advancements we have today.
Strangely enough, Neil deGrasse Tyson had spent years pointing out how the public programs underpinned so much of technology, only to roll over to courting billionaires and promoting the commercialization of space – something that’s already leading to problems for professional scientists and amateur astronomers and ordinary people on Earth now, and may lead to many more crashes going forward.
Unfettered capitalism is not known for public safety and long-term planning.