NASA: Not in Charge of Muslim Outreach

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs politely reminded NASA Administrator Charles Bolden of his job title today, saying that Bolden was quite mistaken when he said—twice—that a large part of NASA’s duties are to reach out to the Muslim world. The NASA head made the comments in February and again in an interview with Al Jazeera. The impetus for Muslim outreach at the space department, said Bolden, is to engage with the world’s best scientists. So far criticism has been swift, which is why Gibbs corrected Bolden’s comments at a daily briefing on Monday. “That was not his task and that’s not the task of NASA,” he said of Bolden’s remarks. Asked if Bolden had misspoken, Gibbs said, “I think so.”