NASA head says agency is open to science

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The head of NASA has called for "scientific openness" after the agency's top climate scientist and others said the White House was tainting reports.

NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin issued a message Friday to the 19,000 space agency employees that "it's not the job of public-affairs officers to alter, filter or adjust engineering or scientific material produced by NASA's technical staff."

The New York Times reports last week James E. Hansen said he was threatened with "dire consequences" if his work at NASA kept calling for government action to control global warming-linked gases.

The Times talked to several other NASA employees who told similar stories of public affairs pressure they said came from the White House.

The employees spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

Their stories all included tales of Bush administration appointees pressing them to include certain items in their work that the president wanted.

This included his goal to return to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

They also said the appointees wanted to review all press releases and approve all media requests for interviews in the months leading to the 2004 election.

Any studies related to climate were also slowed down, the newspaper said.