Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen is back in Antarctica – and Lake Untersee – for another field season of Astrobiology research. Dale’s work is coordinated through the SETI Institute. We’ll be posting his updates here as has been the case since the 1990s. You can find an archive of the reports here. The latest reports:

• 14 November 2024: The Plumes of Enceladus
• 5 November 2024: Evening In Antarctica (video and large panorama)
• 3 November 2024: Preparing For Science Diving (with video)
• 1 November 2024: Drilling Dive Holes Through The Ice
• 29 October 2024: Base Camp Structures
• 25 October 2024: Setting Up Base Camp (with pics and video)
• 23 October 2024: Preparing For The Traverse
• 20 October 2024: Arrival at Novolazarevskaya Station, Antarctica
• 2024 Preview: Dale Andersen’s Field Report: Preview: 2024 Lake Untersee Field Season
• That Time Star Trek Tents Were Actually Used In Antarctica

2024 Report on NASA’s Top Management and Performance Challenges Full report. Excerpts:

• NASA has requested additional funding for Artemis systems through FY 2029, with the Artemis V mission delayed until 2030. At the same time, the lack of a comprehensive cost estimate for the Artemis campaign means that Congress and other stakeholders lack the level of transparency and insight needed about the long-term cost, feasibility, and sustainability of the effort.
• NASA expects to continue operations and maintenance of the Station through 2030. However, as the Agency delays the retirement of the ISS farther into the future, a variety of long-standing challenges will continue to intensify. These include maintaining and upgrading the Station, managing cargo and crew transportation constraints, and solidifying a transition and controlled deorbit plan.
• We also continue to identify funding instability as an impediment to NASA’s project management success. Unstable or uncertain funding, whether in terms of the total amount of funds dedicated to a project or the timing of when those funds are disbursed to the project, can result in inefficient management practices that contribute to poor cost, schedule, and performance outcomes. Protecting Ocean Worlds: Europa Clipper Planetary Protection Inputs To A Probabilistic Risk-based Approach
• Though the volume of interest in private astronaut missions has exceeded NASA’s expectations, significant demand for commercial activity in other sectors—such as in-space manufacturing and marketing products for sale on Earth—has yet to materialize. It is too early to determine the extent to which private astronaut missions will help facilitate a commercial market in LEO.
• At the end of 2023, approximately 64 percent of NASA employees worked in science and engineering occupations, yet the Agency remains at risk from a shortage of such staff due to increased competition for talent from the growing commercial space industry. NASA’s STEM engagement efforts have faced significant challenges over the past two decades including shifting administration priorities and declining budgets.
• much of NASA’s current infrastructure dates to the Apollo-era of space exploration and is in marginal to poor condition. As of July 2024, more than 83 percent of NASA’s facilities are beyond their original design life.
• Another area that we identified is NASA’s management of its cost-plus contracts for development efforts such as the SLS, Orion, and ML-2. These programs have experienced years of delays and billions of dollars in cost increases, due in part to payment of overly generous award fees that we have found to be inconsistent with contractor performance. Award- fee contracts are designed to incentivize contractors and reward strong performance, and these fees are in addition to the amounts paid to reimburse them for actual costs incurred.

[L] Astronaut Scott Parazynski stands atop Everest, the highest point on Earth’s surface, watching a sunrise. [R] Astronaut Jared Isaacman stands atop Resilience, the highest vantage point in Earth orbit, watching a sunset.

Keith’s note: I was just on a media telecon with Astronaut Loral O’Hara who just returned from 204 days on the International Space Station.

“I have a question that comes out my own experience doing long expeditions to remote research locations, small tents, bad food, etc. But then there’s the amazing place I visited and explored. And you forget the hard parts of it all. You have been a submersible driver and a long-term space station astronaut. Both involved things called “expeditions”. In one case you leave the big floating lab and go somewhere. In the other you stay in the big orbiting lab while IT goes somewhere and you get to go outside maybe once or twice. Which of these activities is a better analog for what astronauts (maybe you) will be doing on the Moon and Mars? Or are they both valuable? What other non-space activities or analogs on Earth might be useful to help prepare these future space explorers (again, maybe you)?”

Note: There was an issue with the JSC PAO audio but they got enough to ask Loral the gist of my question.

Loral O’Hara: “I think that there a lot of analogs that we can do here on Earth.  Before I worked at NASA I worked as an ocean engineer and I went out on research ships and that was a great analog. Like you said you’ve had a lot of great experiences around the world working in (ant)arctica or doing field work pretty much anywhere – I think having those small teams in the field working with a team somewhere else back on shore with more resources I think is a good analog for space station and all the missions we’re hoping to do in the future.

“NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Masahito Moriyama have signed an agreement to advance sustainable human exploration of the Moon. Japan will design, develop, and operate a pressurized rover for crewed and uncrewed exploration on the Moon. NASA will provide the launch and delivery of the rover to the Moon as well as two opportunities for Japanese astronauts to travel to the lunar surface.” More

Keith’s note: In the ‘Star Trek Strange New Worlds’ Second Season episode “Under The Cloak of War” there are battle scenes that feature military base with a lot of tents. Those tents were bought by the production company from the manufacturer Heimplanet. By coincidence, astrobiologist, SCUBA explorer, and adventurer Dale Andersen had several of these tents at his base camp at Lake Untersee, Antarctica in 2023. One thing led to another and now Heimplanet has a blog post on Dale’s expedition and their tent referencing my Astrobiology.com website and Star Trek Strange New Worlds. Life imitating art imitating life etc. C’mon NASA SMD, you need to push the envelope a lot further as you tell the world about your various Astrobiology projects. Your outreach is paltry and boring. Full story: That Time Star Trek Tents Were Actually Used In Antarctica.

Keith’s note: A few weeks ago a robotic explorer named Odysseus completed a journey – one not unlike its mythological human namesake undertook – and struggled ashore at the south pole of the Moon. While injured and out of sorts for a while, Odysseus managed to accomplish much of what it had been tasked to do – starting with a precision landing in a place no human or droid has ever visited before. The way that Odysseus made it to the lunar surface involved some truly heroic thinking the mission control team – rather fitting for a space droid named after a hero.

Keith’s note: Crew 8 lifted off on time tonight and is now in orbit. They’ll be arriving at the International Space Station on Tuesday. I was on Bloomberg radio twice today and then on BBC World News TV [AUDIO] to provide some pre- and post-launch commentary. One thing that I noticed – and made mention of – are the names of the spacecraft involved. NASA TV’s hosts talked about the Crew Dragon “Endeavour” – which was named after Space Shuttle “Endeavour”. The Apollo 15 command module also named “Endeavour”. But NASA PAO seems to be uninterested in mentioning that these spaceships of exploration had a historic namesake i.e. Capt. James Cook’s H.M.S. Endeavour. Note that NASA kept the English spelling of Cook’s ship in all of the spacecraft named after it. Also, the Crew Dragon already in space and docked to ISS that will bring some of the current occupants home is named “Endurance” after Sir Ernest Shackleton’s famous antarctic exploration ship “Endurance” – which was recently re-discovered on the Antarctic seabed. NASA refers to these crew stays on ISS as “expeditions”. It would be nice if someone in NASA PAO synched up their commentary so as to remind the public about actual historic resonances with ships of exploration – especially as we prepare to return to the Moon – to explore. Just sayin’.

“The integration of biology and spacefaring has led to the development of three interrelated fields: Astrobiology, Bioastronautics, and Space Bioprocess Engineering. Astrobiology is concerned with the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe, while Bioastronautics focuses on the effects of spaceflight on biological systems, including human physiology and psychology. Space Bioprocess Engineering, on the other hand, deals with the design, deployment, and management of biotechnology for human exploration. This paper highlights the unique contributions of each field and outlines opportunities for biologists to engage in these exciting avenues of research. By providing a clear overview of the major fields of biology and spacefaring, this paper serves as a valuable resource for scientists and researchers interested in exploring the integration of these disciplines.” More here: “Astrobiology, Bioastronautics, And Space Bioprocess Engineering: Domains Of Life Sciences In Spacefaring: What, Where, And How To Get Involved“

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: If only NASA could utilize the same recruitment tools as effectively as Space Force i.e. “Some people look to the stars and ask “what if?”. Our job is to have an answer. … Maybe your purpose on this planet – isn’t on this planet”. The Space Force folks clearly ‘get’ the Star Trek / Star Wars vibe. NASA sometimes gets close to embracing that vide (see above) but then NASA always seems to hold back when they could run with the meme. Why?

Keith’s note: On Saturday 27 January 2024, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy appeared on CNN with Christiane Amanpour. A variety of topics such as warfare in space, safety, going to the Moon etc. were discussed but the one topic that got the most air time was Astrobiology – the search for life elsewhere in the universe. Transcript of that portion of the interview plus a link to the entire video.

Keith’s note: From NASA: “From left to right, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and Deputy Chief of Mission for the Embassy of Israel Eliav Benjamin, place wreaths at the Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial during a ceremony that was part of NASA’s Day of Remembrance, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. The wreaths were laid in memory of those men and women who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration.” Larger image

Keith’s note: There’s a NASA analyst job opening in the NASA Office of Technology, Policy & Strategy. OTPS has an agency-wide, future-leaning role – yet they don’t seem to be at all interested in a serious search for staff. Note the 4 day application window (again) over a weekend. If they were truly interested in getting the best possible applicants – and giving the position opening enough time to circulate widely so as to reach the widest possible pool of potential applicants – and then allow quality people to respond – you have to think that 4 days is rather pointless. People will find out about it after 3 days have already passed – and not enough time remains to seriously consider applying. Unless, of course NASA already has their person for the position hand-picked and they are pretending to be interested in getting applications so as to go through the motions. Its all about checking boxes – not getting quality people. More personnel inbreeding. Just sayin’

Keith’s note: The first launch of a ULA Vulcan rocket – powered by Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman engines – took off this morning at 2:18 a.m. EST and has sent the Astrobotic Pergegrine lander on its way to the Moon. Alas it is having communications and power issues which they managed to fix that but there there are critical propulsion system issues. I am going to be on Deutsche Welle TV just after 12:00 pm EST Update: [Deutsche Welle Audio] – and then on Alhurra TV around 2:45 pm EST Update: [Alhurra audio] – then BBC World News TV at 3:45 pm EST and then Deutsche Welle TV (again) just after 6:00 pm today Update: [second Deutsche Welle Audio] to talk about the mission and the various things on board the Peregrine lander. More from NASA

Keith’s note: The popularity of space exploration – both real and imagined – is something that those of us in the developed and throughly wired developed world take for granted. What we often do not appreciate is how much of our content leaks out and finds its ways across the rest of the world. And in so doing how it can inspire millions of people – ones that we never stop to think about – to aspire to explore space. [much more below]

Keith’s note: I just did an interview on CGTN and was talking about the year ahead in space – space stations, Moon, Mars – and cooperation in the exploration of space. I mentioned the fact that I was watching a space station EVA clip on social media the other day and was initially confused as to what part of the ISS the astronauts were on – and then I realized it was China’s space Station. How cool – I was confused because there are TWO modern space stations in operation. More please. We then discussed the fact that more than half of humanity has never seen humans walking on another world – live – and for them this will be doing the same thing again for the first time – with more people experiencing this for the first time than watched all of the Apollo landings. I also mentioned the fact that U.S. researchers can now submit proposals to study China’s lunar samples. I then noted that one way great nations can cooperate in space is in great endeavors like space exploration – perhaps the greatest endeavor of them all. [Audio]

Keith’s note: On 14 Dec 1911 Roald Amundsen and his party reached the South Pole. NASA plans to land a crew near the south pole of the Moon – but still does not know what year that will happen. And we really have no indication as to which year NASA will announce what the lunar landing date year is. Just sayin’

Keith’s note: NASA is currently flying the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars as part of the Mars Perseverance rover mission. As of this posting it has flown 67 times and continues to perform well beyond its intended lifetime. Ingenuity was designed as a technology demonstration to guide development of future planetary helicopters. Newer versions are under consideration for a Mars Sample Return mission and the larger Dragonfly drone will fly in the skies of Titan in the 2030s. The technology described in this ACS press release uses commercial off-the-shelf technology such as a commercial quadricopter and an Arduino computer. The application of drones has exploded – in good and not so good ways. Drones are a technology that is now familiar and routine for many millions of people – many of whom comprise the Artemis Generation. As such, learning to use a drone that you get as a present – or perhaps one that is employed by the farm you live on – now offers a career path in planetary exploration. The technology described in this air pollution quadcopter drone by ACS has direct applicability to the sorts of things that you’d want to have with you as you conduct Away Team mission on other worlds in search of possible locations of past or present life. One would think that NASA would be making the most of this chance to engage a vast cadre of interested individuals – in America and beyond. Just sayin’ More at Astrobiology.com