Since your profile indicates you are a former NASA, I thought I would flag a few points:
1. I personally pay for all costs associated with the fleet of F-5 aircraft, be that airshows, NFL flyovers, or NASA workforce incentive flights. The rest of the NASA fleet, including F-15s, F/A-18s, and T-38s, requires currency flights to maintain pilot proficiency. Would you prefer they do that over the desert where no one can see them?
2. Obviously, the first A in NASA is Aeronautics, and throughout our history we have taken NASA X-planes to airshows. In fact, a lot of my strategy at NASA draws upon our proud history. We took the X-31 all the way to the Paris Air Show in 1995, the SR-71 was featured at the Edwards Air Show and Oshkosh in 1997, and the X-29 flew at the Dayton and Oshkosh airshows in 1990. It is part of our history, and do you know why? Because inspiring the next generation of engineers, scientists, researchers, pilots, and astronauts is part of what we do. It always has been.
3. It is also our nation’s 250th birthday and the year we returned NASA astronauts to the lunar environment. We are returning to the Moon, building a Moon base, and this is a great time to get out, engage with the public, and tell the NASA story.
x.com/NASAAdmin/status/21072…
Somewhere on that beach is a future pilot, engineer or astronaut. That’s why we fly.
An incredible weekend over Huntington Beach with our
@NASA team at
@PacificAirshow. America has big missions ahead, and we’re going to need the next generation ready to take them on.