NASA Chief's Recovery Mission

It apparently has occurred to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin that denigrating every major project his agency has undertaken in the past three decades is not a great way to build morale. Last week, he told USA Today that the space shuttle and the space station were both big mistakes (see Sept. 28 item below). Now, the paper reports that Griffin has sent an e-mail to agency employees attempting to extricate his foot from his mouth. "I do hope you know that I would never speak of our efforts, past or present, in a way intended to denigrate the efforts of the engineers, technicians, managers, scientists and administrative personnel who 'make it happen' at NASA and at our contractors," he wrote.