Keith’s note: NASA and the SETI Institute are about to complete a competition wherein people get to suggest names for MU69 – the distant body that New Horizons will fly by in January 2019. Among the top choices right now are Chomolungma ??????????? and Sagarmatha ??????? – the original Tibetan and Nepali names for Mt. Everest. These names were nominated by someone living in Kathmandu, Nepal. MU69 represents the the […]
There is talk of a vote in the Senate on the nomination of @RepJBridenstine to be @NASA Administrator around 11 Dec. The vote will likely be split along party lines with a slight edge to confirm him – with Pence as a potential tie breaker. pic.twitter.com/asPNvDOoii — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) November 30, 2017
NASA Statement on Nomination for Agency Chief Financial Officer “It is encouraging to see more members of the agency’s leadership team being named. Jeff’s solid financial background will be a tremendous addition as we continue to advance our nation’s aeronautic and exploration initiatives.” Arizona Treasurer Jeff DeWit nominated by Trump for NASA finance post “Many expected DeWit would immediately join the administration after Trump’s surprise victory. When that didn’t happen, […]
Keith’s note: NASA HEOMD AA Bill Gerstenmaier was speaking at the NASA Advicory Council Human Exploration and Operations Committee meeting today. It certainly seems that he has decided that NASA is not going to comply with S.442 – National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017 – which is now law. In that law Congress told NASA that they are to deliver a ISS Transition plan no later […]
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen Antarctic Status Report 28 November 2017: Last Week at Lake Untersee “We are in our last week of work here at Lake Untersee before heading back to Novo on the 6th. Hope to get in a few more dives for sample collection and imagery beneath the ice, and we have to pull experiments that are ongoing in the lake right now. … All ok here right now […]
Antarctic Selfie’s Journey to Space via Disruption Tolerant Networking, NASA “NASA is boosting cyber to space with benefits for Earth. On Nov. 20, 2017, a selfie snapped from the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica demonstrated technology that can enable the future interplanetary internet. Called Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN), the technology is NASA’s solution to reliable interplanetary data transmissions when vast distances or alignments of celestial bodies may disrupt […]
My Star Trek Episode at Everest “In late April 2009 I found myself at Everest Base Camp for a month. I was living at 17,600 feet in Nepal 2 miles from China and 2 miles from the highest point on our planet. I was surrounded by the epic majesty of the Himalayas, a thousand people supporting several hundred Type A individuals with a shared intent to summit the mountain and […]
Keith’s note: What is really strange is the fact that NASA gives free promotion/advertising to its contractors yet Congress prohibits NASA from advertising about itself. Interesting. @NASA is now offering free advertising links to companies that it pays to make parts for @NASA_SLS and @NASA_Orion #NASASLS https://t.co/7jW0VsEdoH — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) November 29, 2017 Suppliers across America, like L-3 Cincinnati Electronics in Ohio, are essential to making #NASASLS and @NASA_Orion […]
The reason for the unsuccessful launch of “Meteor-M” was called the human factor, Interfax (Google Translate) “The reason for the Meteor-M satellite accident after launching from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amurskaya region could be the human factor, a source in the rocket and space industry told Interfax. “According to preliminary data, there was an error in the flight task of the carrier rocket and the Fregat booster block, as […]
NASA Office of Inspector General Annual Report April – September 2017 “Specifically, despite spending almost $200 million on three spacesuit development efforts, NASA remains years away from having a spacesuit capable of replacing the suits used on the ISS or suitable for use on future exploration missions. Furthermore, given the current development schedule, there is significant risk a next-generation prototype will not be sufficiently mature for testing on the ISS […]