NASA astronaut promotes Ark in space

Astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore is an ardent supporter of Answers in Genesis. Captain Wilmore is stuck, possibly until next year, on the International Space Station (ISS) because of concerns with the safety of the Boeing Starliner capsule. Apparently, Ken Ham will get tons of publicity from support by astronaut Wilmore, who can be seen wearing an Ark Encounter T-shirt and hat in the photo. Captain Wilmore has also taken separate photos of two different Ark baseball caps on the ISS.

Mr. Ham is already hawking “as seen in space” merchandise promoting the Ark here. He writes:

These “as seen in space” items are available on our online store or at the attractions. It’s a fun way to promote the Ark and talk about a man who is bold in his witness for Jesus Christ and the truth of God’s Word from the very first verse, even while working as an astronaut with NASA.

The cost to send a payload to the ISS is about $10,000/lb, according to NASA. Moreover, it was probably much more expensive to send anything on the ill-fated Boeing Starliner. If the T-shirt weighs about 5 or 6 oz and the two caps combined weigh a similar amount, then the cost of getting them into orbit was around $8,000. Although NASA allows astronauts to have personal items, both NASA and the International Space Station have explicit guidelines for advertising. NASA’s guidelines appear to explicitly forbid Wilmore’s advertising for Answers in Genesis:

Advertising and Marketing on the International Space Station

Commercials and other marketing filming/activity on the International Space Station authorized by the NASA Interim Directive (NID) on Use of International Space Station (ISS) for Commercial and Marketing Activities are additionally subject to the following guidelines:

NASA support in filming/capturing commercials or other marketing videos, which will occur behind the scenes, shall not be used to indicate or imply that NASA approves or endorses the requesting entity or its products, services, or enterprises. No commercials or promotional materials filmed on ISS may imply such approval or endorsement, nor may NASA stock images or footage be used in a way that does so. …

The rules for the ISS crew state:

ISS crewmembers shall refrain from any use of the position of ISS crewmember that is motivated, or has the appearance of being motivated, by private gain, including financial gain, for himself or herself or other persons or entities. …

Captain Wilmore certainly gives the appearance of promoting the for-profit Ark Encounter and the non-profit Answers in Genesis ministry at US taxpayer expense. Ken Ham will probably make a lot of money off the shirt and cap sales. I predict that NASA and the ISS will ignore this apparent violation of their own rules to avoid negative publicity and pushback from AIG’s supporters. Mr. Ham and AIG once again triumph in getting a benefit from the taxpayer.