Culture

Mike Pence Does Exactly What NASA Told Him Not to Do, Becomes Meme

It says not to right there, Mike. It's in red, capitalized letters, Mike. 

Getty Images / Joe Raedle

It was the touch felt ‘round the web.

Vice President Mike Pence took the Trump Administration’s relationship with NASA into his own hands on Thursday, and there is photographic evidence to prove it.

Mike Pence toured the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and followed the visit with a 25-minute speech in which he promised to revive space exploration and get “American boots on the face of Mars.”

This speech followed the president’s June 30 executive order in which he relaunched the National Space Council, last active in 1993, and appointed his vice president as the chairman.

But nobody cares about any of that right now, because of this picture:

In it, Pence is seen disregarding prominent signage and putting his flat palm on this piece of “critical space flight hardware” like he is touching a stingray at an aquatic petting zoo.

People were quick to react to this inherently hilarious image.

Some users drew parallels to Pence’s, um, belief system.

A few got creative with photo editing.

Others were more sympathetic.

Even a few celebrities joined in on the fun.

All in all, Pence’s handsy blunder taught everyone a couple of lessons. First, that it’s important to look before you touch, and second — Hozier is funny.

Who knew? 

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