Why punish a scientist for defending science?

India seeks collaborators for a mission to Venus, the neglected planet | Science

Science says its essential to make time to do nothing

Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt is the only scientist to have explored the Moon’s surface. Because he was not a pilot, as all previous astronauts were, Dr. Schmitt attended a 53-week course in flight training, logging more than 2,100 hours flying time