Boxed In

Sometimes an organization is boxed in and cannot speak when it should. This is especially true of personnel matters. Consider the case of an African-American, female astronaut who was slated to spend a lengthy period of time on the space station. She trained and was ready to go when NASA cancelled her mission without explanation. Months later, she still doesn’t know why she was barred from the space station and NASA isn’t talking. It doesn’t make NASA look good, but there might not be anything for the agency to say that wouldn’t cause controversy.  Fortunately for NASA, the astronaut, Jeanette Epps, is not making an issue out of the denial although her brother is. In NASA’s defense, other African-Americans have visited the space station and completed missions there. Epps was supposed to take on a long-term role, the first for an African-American woman. So, she now is in limbo working on earth-bound missions and she doesn’t know when or if she will make it into space.  Meanwhile, NASA is silent and letting the situation fester.