When NASA People Say Inaccurate Things NASA Doesn't Care

Keith's note: Yesterday I sent the following email to NASA JPL employee Ron Baalke yesterday about two inaccurate tweets he has posted (and retweeted) regarding the Challenger accident. I cc:ed JPL and NASA HQ PAO. The tweets are still out there misinforming people. No one at NASA seems to care that a NASA employee is perpetuating misleading information. Yes, its a "private" Twitter account - one that goes out of its way to identify the owner as a JPL employee. Yet when other people circulate inaccurate information like this about NASA events NASA PAO gets all upset. Go figure.

"I see that your twitter account just retweeted these tweets. They are factually incorrect on several levels. 1. Space Shuttle Challenger did not "explode". Challenger was torn apart by extreme aerodynamic forces as a result of an explosion in the External Tank. 2. The crew of Space Shuttle Challenger were killed by the breakup of the vehicle and/or the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean at high speed - not by any "explosion". These are matters of established fact. Please correct your tweets."

Jan 28, 1986: Seven astronauts were killed when space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.
Kent Shocknet covered the launch live on KNBC Channel 4 news from Los Angeles. Part 2 of 2 pic.twitter.com/cb2ybcmewL

— Rocket Ron 🚀 (@RonBaalke) January 28, 2018

Jan 28, 1986: Seven astronauts were killed when space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff.
Kent Shocknet covered the launch live on KNBC Channel 4 news from Los Angeles. Part 1 of 2 pic.twitter.com/HOi3yoJzR9

— Rocket Ron 🚀 (@RonBaalke) January 28, 2018

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