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A search of the site will show that from time to time the political aspects of NASA (a US government agency) or the Space Exploration aspects of politicians have been considered on-topic in this site. I've summarized some examples in these three comments (1, 2, 3).

Below is a screen shot from a Fox News clip NASA explains need for protecting US assets in space; NASA administrator explains the purpose of President Trump's proposed Space Force. dated Aug. 10, 2018 - 4:54.

As these are unprecedented times for an unprecedented administration, this might be yet another consistent surprise. NASA directer Jim Bridenstine is perhaps an unprecedented NASA administrator, with a background in rocket racing and politics rather than science or engineering. (see also Rocket Racing League (1, 2, 3, 4)).

Question: Has a NASA administrator ever explained US military initiatives in Space to the press before this? It could be either a proposed initiatives, or an actual one.

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Trump directs formation of a Space Force: youtu.be/CAM9gvH7gFE In Trump’s Universe, Everyone Loves “Space Force”: youtu.be/LYQX-BPUqN4?t=102 and the Space Force song: youtu.be/_AUXpnB065o?t=22 $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Sep 13, 2018 at 10:23
  • $\begingroup$ also see the DKNY Bridenstine Rocket Racer© youtu.be/JEPr3DRUS7Y also see youtu.be/JauniXG7FKc $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Sep 13, 2018 at 11:38
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    $\begingroup$ The Space Shuttle was a joint NASA/DoD effort. The NASA administrator at the time almost surely was involved in some briefings regarding how the design and construction of the Shuttle achieved both NASA and DoD objectives, and most likely played some role in briefings on the ten DoD Shuttle flights. And there have been other joint NASA/DoD projects such as AgRISTARS. $\endgroup$
    – David Hammen
    Sep 13, 2018 at 15:23
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    $\begingroup$ I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because a. it's a list question and therefore not a good fit for Stackexchange, b. it's about press conferences, and only very tangentially related to space exploration, c. unanswerable because nobody keeps a list of press conferences. $\endgroup$
    – Hobbes
    Sep 13, 2018 at 15:50
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    $\begingroup$ I think that this question is on-topic, but I agree that it may be unanswerable. If the answer is yes, all you have to do is find such a press release, but to answer no you have to prove that such a thing never happened. $\endgroup$
    – Phiteros
    Sep 14, 2018 at 2:52

1 Answer 1

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In former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden's speech at the Air Force Association Air & Space Conference and Tech Exposition in 2011, he explained a US military aerospace initiative, specifically the joint development of a practical hypersonic vehicle:

The United States Air Force has been a key partner in many of NASA's aeronautics achievements over the decades. Right now the Air Force Research Laboratory is part of our X-48 research team. The X-48 is a blended wing body configuration – no tail and a wing that blends into the fuselage. It has the potential to achieve that ultimate goal I mentioned earlier -- dramatically reduce noise, emissions, and fuel use simultaneously. There's a 21-foot wingspan remotely piloted X-48 test vehicle out at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center that's completed a first round of test flights. It's been modified based on what we learned in those tests; round two of testing has just begun. At the hypersonic level, we're building a new legacy with the Air Force through development of the air-breathing scramjet propulsion technology. In 2004, flights of the X-43A uncooled 13 scramjet – each about ten seconds – broke speed records. One flight clocked in at Mach 9.6 or about 7,000 mph. For scramjets, though, it's as much about actual operation time as speed. In 2010, the X-51A fuel-cooled scramjet achieved an operation time of nearly 150 seconds. Right now work continues on developing a practical hypersonic vehicle, with more sophisticated technology flight experiments planned in the next few years.

This was an event open to and attended by the media, so it would count as a press event.

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