Neil deGrasse Tyson Admits the Space Shuttle Was Never About Science

Neil deGrasse Tyson Admits the Space Shuttle Was Never About Science
July 23, 2011 by Geoffrey Allan Plauché

Promoting science is a major reason often given in support of the space shuttle program and against ending it. But the space shuttle program was never about science, as astrophysicist and celebrity science-show host Neil deGrasse Tyson recently admitted (in the video below). It was created for geopolitical reasons ­ to combat the commies. He thinks Americans are afraid to admit this and need to be more honest with themselves.

He also allowed that you can see the program as a waste of money from the perspective of funding science, but I disagree with his suggestion you can see it as a waste of money only if you see the program as existing solely for the purpose of promoting science. It was a colossal waste of money by any measure, and I say that as a proponent of space exploration and exploitation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ8eYXd-XZA&feature=player_embedded

One thing that disturbed me, however, was Tyson's claim that he could second-guess the geopolitical reasons for the space shuttle program if he were a political scientist, but he's not so he won't. On the one hand, it's refreshing to see a scientist not making cocksure pronouncements about things outside of his particular area of expertise. On the other hand, speaking as a political scientist myself, political scientists should not be put on a pedestal and treated as technocratic experts to whom one must defer on political issues. Ironically, Tyson here falls prey to a kind of provincial attitude, despite warning against another kind in the video, in limiting his personal responsibility for making reasoned judgments to his own field of science . The "Oh, I'll leave the ethical and political concerns to others, I'm just a scientist" conscience-absolving attitude is an irresponsible abdication of responsibility that has played a role in the development of government weapons of mass destruction, such as the atom bomb.