Trouble at NASA

NASA has had a tough couple of weeks in the news. First, a NASA scientist claims that the Bush administration tried to silence him about global warming, then a 24-year old public affairs worker appointed by Bush resigns after allegations that he tried to make scientists add the word "theory" every time the Big Bang was mentioned because of a perceived conflict with religion--and it turned out that he had not graduated from college like his resume said. Then a press release was altered to remove a reference to the sun burning out in five billion years so as not to scare people. (?)

Now there are more reports of political pressure on NASA to tone down findings conflicting with administration policy. New York Times:

Top political appointees in the NASA press office exerted strong pressure during the 2004 presidential campaign to cut the flow of news releases on glaciers, climate, pollution and other earth sciences, public affairs officers at the agency say.