Keith’s note: The White House, Department of Energy, and OSTP just launched a big flashy national AI thing called “Genesis Mission”. The Executive Order says “This order launches the “Genesis Mission” as a dedicated, coordinated national effort to unleash a new age of AI‑accelerated innovation and discovery that can solve the most challenging problems of this century.” Alas, there is no mention of NASA in the Genesis fact sheet and the press release mentions NSF, NISH, and NIH – but not NASA. There is no mention either of NASA things like space, astronomy, or aviation. NASA is trying to understand the scope and origin of the universe, search for life on other worlds, and build spaceships unlike any ever built before – and it is employing advanced computing and AI in all of this. But NASA apparently does not pass muster when it comes to inclusion in the White House/OSTP Genesis Mission.

Keith’s 7 May update: I just got a note from NASA PAO: “The May 5 Federal Register notice regarding the Aviation Safety Reporting System, which NASA manages for the Federal Aviation Administration, was a routine renewal of information collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.” This routine Federal Register posting uses lots of boilerplate language and has been used in previous years. So … there is not any formal linkage to other efforts to eliminate things across the government per se. Keith’s original 5 May note: Looks like DOGE is debating whether the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and Related Voluntary Safety Reporting Systems (VSRS) are worth keeping: “The NASA Ames Research Center, Human Systems Integration Division, manages voluntary safety reporting systems to collect and share safety information including, but not limited to, the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) and the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS). Both systems are voluntary reporting systems for the reporting of safety incidents, events, or situations.” … “Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of NASA, including whether the information collected has practical utility; (2) the accuracy of NASA’s estimate of the burden (including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including automated collection techniques or the use of other forms of information technology.”

Keith’s note: You’ll never hear about this from NASA – but WBUR’s “OnPoint” program just covered the amazing saga of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter [Listen here]. I’ve listened to lots of space coverage – for a very long time – as a young boy and not so young adult. I have to say, “on Point” host Meghna Chakrabarti did a truly masterful interview with the Ingenuity team. Not only did she do her homework in advance, but she took the time to tease out the special little things from the team that made this little project a big success. More below.

Keith’s note: NASA rolled out its new X-59 today. I did an interview with Deutsche Welle TV about this at 3:30 pm EST today [audio] and again just after 6:00 pm EST [Audio].

Keith’s note: In case you have not noticed – the “other” A’ in NASA was in the news this morning – Aeronautics – specifically FAA’s NOTAM system which broke. Every plane was grounded for a while. Things are getting back to normal albeit slowly. I was on Alhurra TV to talk about this – and managed to get a mention in about space traffic and how the complexity of the terrestrial air travel system should be a precautionary lesson as we look to set up a system to monitor the ever-growing amount of space traffic. Audio

Moments ago: @POTUS #JoeBiden addressing troops in the UK: "There is nothing that our nation cannot do if we do it together. We are the nation that cracked the physics of flight, broke the sound barrier, put a man on the Moon, and then flew a helicopter on Mars." #ScienceIsBack pic.twitter.com/JYtSf0tlaA — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) June 9, 2021

If you use the search engine at https://t.co/XMMHKxgwON to find "astrobiology" the top link is a post from 2003. The actual official main link for @NASA's Astrobiology program is https://t.co/igd6rpgpkl Can't find it in the search results. But Google finds it. #astrobiology #NASA pic.twitter.com/Jsu74XtDPW — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) March 25, 2021 Keith’s note: Earlier this week I pointed out that a search for “education” on the NASA.gov website did not […]

Keith’s note: Take a look at the NASA Advisory Council STEM Engagement Committee. The page has lots of meeting agendas but no one seems to have taken any notes at the meetings in 2020. The October 2019 meeting minutes has a few strange entries. This one stands out: “Mr. Dan Dumbacher noted that the five Sphere 1 activities did not include Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate content. Ms. Brown noted no […]

Boeing Charged with 737 Max Fraud Conspiracy and Agrees to Pay over $2.5 Billion, Department of Justice “The Boeing Company (Boeing) has entered into an agreement with the Department of Justice to resolve a criminal charge related to a conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Evaluation Group (FAA AEG) in connection with the FAA AEG’s evaluation of Boeing’s 737 MAX airplane. Boeing, a U.S.-based multinational corporation that designs, […]

NASA Administrator Names Robert Pearce Head of Agency Aeronautics “NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has named Robert Pearce as the next associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). Pearce replaces Jaiwon Shin, who retired from the agency on Aug. 31. “Bob is a visionary leader with a deep understanding of the current and future aeronautics environment,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “He’ll do a great job directing NASA in […]

On this date in 1903, Orville Wright made the first powered airplane flight. @xkcdComic puts it into perspective! pic.twitter.com/1SzEQ8Pg4R — Seattle Astronomy (@SeattleAstro) December 17, 2018

NASA ARC Internal Memo: National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) Incident “Last Friday evening at about 6 p.m., the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) suffered significant damage when debris passed through the drive system during a test. There were no injuries, but the facility will require extensive repairs. The NFAC is leased and operated by the US Air Force, and we are coordinating closely with them in all aspects of the […]

FAA hid study showing chronic air controller fatigue, CBS “The study is composed of a survey of 3,268 controllers about their work schedules and sleep habits, and a field study that monitored the sleep and the mental alertness of more than 200 controllers at 30 air traffic facilities. NASA produced the study at the FAA’s request. J.D. Harrington, a NASA spokesman, also declined to release the study, saying in an […]

Celebrate the Centennial of NASA’s Predecessor: The NACA “Today marks a special anniversary for the NASA family. It was 100 years ago, on March 3, 1915, when Congress created the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the organization from which NASA was created in 1958. The NACA was formed because our nation’s leaders were concerned the U.S. was losing its edge in aviation technology to Europe, where World War 1 […]

Mystery Surrounds NASA’s Secret Mission in Africa, ABC A NASA official recently confirmed that one of the agency’s aircraft had been spotted on an American military airstrip in eastern Africa a few weeks ago, but like a series of U.S. military officials, declined to say what the space agency’s high-tech bird was doing there. “I really can’t give you any of the details,” Jim Alexander, a NASA official with the […]

LDSD Testing for Large Payloads to Mars on Tuesday “To duplicate many of the most important aspects of Mars’ thin atmosphere, NASA plans to use the very thin air found high in Earth’s stratosphere as a test bed for the LDSD mission. NASA has identified six potential launch dates for the balloon carrying LDSD: June 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 14. The June 3 launch window extends from 8 […]

Review of Allegations of Improper Leasing and Provision of Aircraft Fuel at Moffett Federal Airfield “The OIG found that consistent with NASA policy Ames based the price of its lease with H211 on the fair market value of comparable hangar space and that, as required, the lease and companion Space Act Agreement supported NASA’s mission. Specifically, since 2009 H211 has flown more than 200 flights to collect climate data at […]

NASA Announces New Strategic Vision for Aeronautics Research [Watch], NASA “Nearly every aircraft flying and air traffic management system now in use includes NASA-supported technologies that improve efficiency and safety,” said Bolden. “This new vision will expand on that by fully integrating into aviation advances in other industries and parts of the economy to meet the future demands for global mobility in ways we can only begin to imagine today.” […]

NASA Commercial Crew Transportation Capability Contract CCTCAP Draft RFP, NASA “The CCtCap contract is the second phase of a two-phased procurement strategy to develop a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability to achieve safe, reliable and cost effective access to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with a goal of no later than 2017. The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12. This […]