Yet as I download a Mac widget for my dashboard from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), pull the Hubble space
telescope photo of the day via iPhone App, and watch restored videos of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on nasa.gov and YouTube, it is clearer than ever: space exploration now also means entertainment, branding and personality rights management.
During a visit to the office
of President Obama's science adviser last spring, still in the early
days of the administration, I was struck by how many
photos were already on the wall showing the president peering through a
telescope, examining solar panels or honoring scientists and engineers.