Neil deGrasse Tyson: What NASA Means to America's Future

Hotel Constellation

On a doomed NASA Project, rumors flying anywhere
The threat of cancellation rising up in the air
Up ahead in the White House, I saw a frightening sight
My heart grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop out of fright

There he stood at the prompter;
I heard the fateful plan
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be the end of U.S. space for man'
Then he put up the budget and he showed me his way
There were voices down in Congress,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the Hotel Constellation
Such a lonely place
Such a total waste
Plenty of gloom at the Hotel Constellation
Some time this year, you will see the tears

His mind is definitely twisted, he got the merciless axe
He got a lot of phony, phony lies, that he calls facts
How they dance around the issue, making us sweat.
Some dance to dismember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Bold One,
'Please give me a hopeful sign'
He said, 'We haven't had space spirit here since nineteen sixty nine'
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the Hotel Constellation
Such a lonely place
Such a total waste
They're givin' it up at the Hotel Constellation
What a big surprise, hear their alibis

Mirrors in the budget,
The pink slips will begin
And he said 'You are all just prisoners here, of the Prez's whim
And in the NASA chambers,
They gathered for the wake
They stab it with their steely knives,
Just how much can we take?

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find a job that's fun
Like the one I had before
'Relax,' said the Congress,
'We are programmed to deceive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!


--------------------------------------
From a NASA email