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NASA Is Not Part Of The OSTP Tech Road Show
NASA Is Not Part Of The OSTP Tech Road Show

Keith’s note: According to this OSTP Fact Sheet: Biden-⁠Harris Administration to Kick off Fourth Investing in America Tour to Highlight How the President Is Delivering for Communities in Every Corner of America: “Throughout the Investing in America tour, President Biden, Vice President Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Cabinet members, and Senior Administration Officials will visit communities across the country where the President is cutting costs for American families, growing our clean energy economy, rebuilding our infrastructure, and creating good-paying jobs along the way. To date, the Administration has now launched over 50,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects and mobilized over $640 billion in private sector clean energy and manufacturing investments.” Alas, NASA is mentioned nowhere in this fact sheet. The fact sheet points to a Brookings Institution report – which also makes no mention of NASA or space. Remember the early days of this Administration when the President pointed out a Moon rock in the oval office? Looks like NASA has lost its mojo. As for the National Space Council – which is supposed to worry about these sort of things – nothing but crickets.

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  • NASA Watch
  • February 16, 2024
National Space Council Event: Nice TV Backdrop But No News
National Space Council Event: Nice TV Backdrop But No News

Keith’s note: There was another National Space Council thing in Washington, DC. Big room, lots of flags, big expensive billboard-sized posters from Kinko’s, dramatic lighting – and did I mention lots of flags? Today’s big news was not “news”. VP Harris announced that an international crew member would be part of a mission to the lunar surface. Duh. We’ve all known that for a while. We still do not know what country they wil be from or who they are. NASA can’t even tell you what year they’ll be able to announce the year that humans will land on the Moon – much less who will be in the spaceship or the flag on their shoulder. The Vice President’s team just wants talking points with a sizzle reel. Only NASA OIG and GAO seem to care about NASA’s ability to do things at cost and on time. Artemis and Gateway, Mars Sample Return, ISS service life extension and disposal, commercial space station follow-ons – and all those other other shiny new things will not all fit in the existing budget box. But why worry that the budget required to do things at NASA – It’s showtime! These public things are just a dog and pony show that costs a lot of money three times a year to make the people in the D.C space bubble feel important as they enjoy their choir practice in an echo chamber. The real work goes on behind the scenes. This is just for PR. Just sayin’. Here are the talking points and fact sheets.

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  • NASA Watch
  • December 20, 2023
Another Pointless National Space Council Meeting
Another Pointless National Space Council Meeting

Keith’s 11 Dec note: There is a National Space Council meeting on Wednesday 20 Dec. Other than a simple release from the White House – emailed to some media but not others – no other information has come out. I asked NASA PAO if it will be webcast. No response. No start/end time is listed. No location. No agenda. Nothing. NASA+ and NASA.gov make no mention whatsoever. You can’t ask the National Space Council since there is no way to actually contact them via their website (no email contact, phone number). It is hard to see how anyone outside of the DC space bubble will even hear what is said. Based on the indifference that the NSpC has had with being open about its activities, it is obvious by now that no one there or in the VP’s office or OSTP actually cares. (see Yet Another Pointless NSpC Users’ Advisory Group Meeting) This is just another VP photo op wherein people read from a script. Hard to take their interest seriously. Beam me up.

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  • NASA Watch
  • December 11, 2023
Yet Another Pointless NSpC Users’ Advisory Group Meeting
Yet Another Pointless NSpC Users’ Advisory Group Meeting

Keith’s note: According to NASA “The next meeting of the National Space Council (NSpC) Users’ Advisory Group (UAG) is scheduled for December 1, 2023, 11:00am – 2:00pm EST. This meeting will be virtual-only, via dial-in and WebEx. Access information links for both virtual video and audio lines will be posted in advance on this website. This meeting was supposed to happen on 4 August 2023 but they rescheduled it – no reason given. It then took them 4 months to figure out what they wanted to do and reschedule it. It sure doesn’t sound like there is a lot of priority attached to this meeting in the NSpC or the Vice President’s office. As we all know by now all of the topics that are discussed by the UAG have already been decided – in advance – by the NSpC staff. The same thing happened in the previous Administration so at least they are being consistent. All the UAG does in these meetings is a short photo op (in this case a screen grab opportunity) and have the members say words prepared by their staff about the things that have already been decided/enacted. This gives the impression that experts deliberated about whatever their words say they did. And then someone checks a box because they did another one of those FACA advisory meeting things we do here in Washington. Here is the agenda. Will they talk about SLS delays/overruns or Mars Sample Return woes? There does not seem to be room in a 3 hour telecon with a jammed agenda like this. Meanwhile if you want to actually ask the NSpC what all this is about they still do not have any way to contact actual NSpC staff on their official website which is 3 paragraphs on a generic White House webpage. If you have nothing better to do then here are prior rants posts about the whole NSpC/UAG space advisory rabbit hole to look at.

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  • NASA Watch
  • November 26, 2023
Is Bill Nelson On The Same Page As Joe Biden Regarding China?
Is Bill Nelson On The Same Page As Joe Biden Regarding China?
  • According to the Daily Mail ‘The China-U.S. relationship has never been smooth sailing and always faces problems of one kind or another,’ Xi said through a translator as he met Biden. ‘Yet it has kept moving forward amidst twists and turns. For China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option. It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has terrible consequences for both sides. Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed.’ Biden said “We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict and we have to manage responsibly that competition,’ Biden told his counterpart. ‘That’s what the United States wants and what we intend to do. I believe that’s also what the world wants from both of us. ‘We have a responsibility to our people and the world to work together when we see it in our interests to do so. The critical global changes we face from climate change, narcotics to artificial intelligence demand us to work together.”
  • Meanwhile NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has been quoted in Politico as saying “It is a fact: we’re in a space race,” the former Florida senator and astronaut said in an interview. “And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’” He pointed out that Russian cosmonauts operate the International Space Station side by side with NASA astronauts, and that they frequently trust each other with their lives. And on CTV Nelson said “We built the International Space Station with the Russians. What a contrast, with the Chinese government,” Nelson said. “They are secretive, they are non-transparent. They will not share when Earth is threatened by one of their tumbling rockets coming back in, they will not share their trajectories, so it’s a huge difference in the way we approach our civilian space program with the Russians visa vie the Chinese.”
  • It would seem like Bill Nelson has been off on his own hawkish path with regard to China while being extra tender with regard to Russia (with whom we are fighting a proxy war) while the White House (and seemingly Beijing) are moving in the opposite direction than Nelson’s Cold War-ish rhetoric. Is Nelson out of touch – or is this a ‘good cop/bad cop’ game that the Administration is using Nelson for?
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  • NASA Watch
  • November 15, 2023
Bhutan Makes A Semi-Stealthy Visit To NASA HQ
Bhutan Makes A Semi-Stealthy Visit To NASA HQ

Keith’s note: The Foreign Minister of Bhutan and his entourage made a “courtesy visit” to NASA HQ on Wednesday. NASA only posted a few pictures. Why was the Foreign Minister of Bhutan visiting NASA? Did Bill Nelson talk about Artemis Accords with him? Perhaps issues associated with Himalayan climate change? China? A personal interest in space by Bhutan? Of course NASA Public Affairs and the Office of International and Interagency Relations are silent on this. Oh yes: the fancy shiny new NASA.gov website search engine finds no mention of this visit even though pics are posted at NASA.gov

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  • NASA Watch
  • September 29, 2023
Do The Artemis Accords Have A New Competitor?
Do The Artemis Accords Have A New Competitor?

Shri Vinay Kwatra, India’s Foreign Secretary: “With regard to the BRICS space consortium, second question, also cooperation in space. Look, there is already a BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation which was established by BRICS during India’s chairmanship. Space is a domain in which we have been very forward leaning in offering our capacities in a cooperative framework with other countries. So, for example, India has SAARC satellite which we built essentially for the South Asian Association of Regional Countries. BRICS, as I said, BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation and the Space Exploration Consortium that we have proposed will essentially take that as a base layer and build on it. Now, obviously, for any such concept to be successful, it has to address the priorities which each of the BRICS countries would have. So, the relevant working groups of the BRICS which would deal with this would look into this aspect, identify its elements and the space of cooperation in space, in the field of space or space in the field of space is actually so extensive. It’s so, I would say, productive in terms of how we integrate the capacities in the space with our own economic endeavors. This can be a very, very promising area of cooperation and something in which, as I said, India has always been forward leaning in terms of offering its capacities.” Transcript of Special Briefing by Foreign Secretary on Prime Minister’s visit to South Africa and Greece (August 24, 2023) — More news below.

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  • NASA Watch
  • August 27, 2023
That NASA-Mongolia Meeting That No One Knows About
That NASA-Mongolia Meeting That No One Knows About

Keith’s note: Looks like there was a high level meeting last week of the NASA Deputy Administrator, State Department, National Space Council Executive Director – and the Mongolian Prime Minister. But no one seems to care except Pam Melroy. The only place any of this is mentioned is on @Astro_Pam – an account with only 13,000 followers. @NASA has 75 million followers – but makes no mention. But PAO AA Marc Etkind and his crack social media squad could not be bothered with using that account to spread this international news INTERNATIONALLY or use NASA.gov to tell the folks here in the U.S. Of course, NASA OIIR never updates anything online. And forget about National Space Council – they do not even have telephone/email contacts on their useless home page. And the Mongolian Embassy Twitter mentions everything that their Prime minister did in Washington, DC last week – except the NASA thing. And don’t even bother with the search engines on NASA’s old or new (beta) websites. All they have to say about Mongolia has to do with forest fires 10 years ago. Meanwhile the Mongolian Prime minister was at the White house signing a “Strategic Third Neighbor Partnership”. The joint statement says “The United States and Mongolia also discussed ways to increase U.S.- Mongolia space and technology cooperation, including through the development of a bilateral space dialogue. Both countries are working towards advancing space situational awareness cooperation and ensuring a peaceful, safe, secure, and sustainable space environment.” But other than Pam Melroy no one at NASA seems to care. Yet another example of Squandering NASA’s Immense Soft Power. Just sayin’

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  • NASA Watch
  • August 7, 2023
Yawn. NASA Has A Planetary Defense Action Plan.
Yawn. NASA Has A Planetary Defense Action Plan.

Keith’s note: According to NASA “To help guide NASA’s efforts over the next decade, the agency today released its Planetary Defense Strategy and Action Plan.” This is kinda important, right? NASA PAO tweeted about it and posted a thing on NASA.gov but did not bother to issue a media advisory or press release to the news media. No mention is made on the White House website, by OSTP, the National Space Council, the Users Advisory Group, or the Vice President’s office. Or Space Force, DHS, NOAA etc. No one really bothers to try and coordinate this stuff across the government anymore since it is really not much of a priority – unless there is a photo-op with the VP. More info.

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  • NASA Watch
  • April 18, 2023
Yet Another Do-Nothing UAG Meeting
Yet Another Do-Nothing UAG Meeting

Keith’s note: A week ago the National Space Council User’s Advisory Group held a meeting. They said that they’d get everything online. It has been a week. All that is online is the agenda. It as a link for the presentations. If you go there you will not see any presentations. There is a link for “National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group: Findings and Recommendations” but it points to a page last updated on 30 July 2020. All that was posted is a video by Buzz Aldrin and a raw video of the meeting at the original livestream link. NASA.gov makes no mention of this anywhere. NASA OIIR which oversees all of this inter- and intra-governmental advisory stuff is clueless as well. There is no mention of this or any other meeting. Nor is there any way to contact an identifiable human (like Chirag Parikh) at the official National Space Council webpage. There is a White House link to a short summary of the photo op all of the UAG members met VP Harris – lots of flowery blather but no substance. Oddly I had a link to Thomas Zurbuchen’s presentation – the one that NASA’s crack AV squad screwed up) which was online moments after the meeting ended – last week. You can catch my UAG coverage on Twitter here. It took the Biden Administration and NASA 2 years to actually assemble this UAG panel for a meeting. It is doubtful that they will accomplish anything more than the Trump Administration’s UAG did – other than dog and pony shows with expensive backdrops. I have seen innumerable pointless advisory panels in my 37 years inside of – and watching – NASA. This UAG is probably the most pointless of them all. If the Administration and NASA do not take the whole “user” aspect of space seriously then why should anyone else? Another 4 years wasted. Just saying.

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  • NASA Watch
  • March 1, 2023
Yet Another Pointless Users’ Advisory Group Meeting
Yet Another Pointless Users’ Advisory Group Meeting

Keith’s note: The National Space Council (NSpC) Users’ Advisory Group (UAG) Is meeting on Thursday 23 February from 9:00 am – 1:15 pm EST at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC. You can watch it live here. If you look at the Agenda you will see that it is filled with UAG members, space insiders, and NASA staff briefing one another in true echo chamber style. There is no scheduled outside input from the real world. There is a mention on the agenda that you can “submit a question, comment, or idea to the UAG, please use the following e-mail: [email protected]“. Just know that any questions you submit will be filtered and screened by lots of government people – so nothing provocative is likely to be asked at the meeting. And any answers you get back after the meeting will be bland and lacking in terms of having any worthwhile content. The UAG could have had real value. Instead it is mostly a pointless dog and pony show. More below.

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  • NASA Watch
  • February 22, 2023
NASA Advisory Council Never Has Young Members. Why?
NASA Advisory Council Never Has Young Members. Why?

Keith’s Note: There is a NASA Advisory Council Meeting (NAC) today and tomorrow. If you have nothing better to do and want to listen to a bunch of people put forth opinions and ideas that NASA simply ignores, then tune in: Oh yes: Why is there never anyone under 40 – or under 30 – on the NAC? With all this talk about Artemis Generation, education, STEM diversity etc. there is no one on the NAC representing the ACTUAL sector of society that is moving into NASA and the global space industry. is there anyone on the NAC STEM committee who is actually a member of the Artemis Generation? No. Meeting info

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  • NASA Watch
  • January 17, 2023
Staying Awake At The National Space Council Listening Sessions
Staying Awake At The National Space Council Listening Sessions

Keith’s note: FYI The usually inert National Space Council (NSpC) is waking up a bit to have some “listening Sessions” so hurry up and register to listen or whatever one does at these “listening” things. Meanwhile, the National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group (UAG) is still on life support. Despite a call for member nominations more than a year ago by NSpC, NASA etc. they staff has yet to announce who is (or is not) on the UAG. If you go to the official UAG website you can see pictures ot the Trump Administration’s UAG and its membership – but zippo on Team Biden’s UAG. So is the UAG “listening” to anyone? Guess not. Here’s the NSpC Listening Session announcement

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  • NASA Watch
  • November 7, 2022
Yet Another Pointless NASA Advisory Council Meeting
Yet Another Pointless NASA Advisory Council Meeting

NASA Advisory Council Meeting “Tuesday, August 9, 2022, 1 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Eastern Time; and Wednesday, August 10, 2022, 1 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The agenda for the meeting will include reports on the following NAC priority focus areas: -Climate Change -Commercial and Industry Partnerships -Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility -International Collaboration -Program Management and Acquisition The agenda for the meeting will also include reports from the following NAC committees: -Aeronautics […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 9, 2022
Does Anyone Know Where The National Space Council Is Hiding? (Re-Repost)
Does Anyone Know Where The National Space Council Is Hiding? (Re-Repost)

Keith’s note: It is June July August 2022. The last time the National Space Council poked its head out through the curtains was December 2021. Six Seven Eight months. Does anyone know what they are doing? If you go to the official National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group (NSpC UAG) page at NASA you are greeted with banner image of the Trump Administration’s UAG. If you go to the membership […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 9, 2022
NASA, OSTP, NSpC, UAG, NAC Etc. Will Ignore This Report
NASA, OSTP, NSpC, UAG, NAC Etc. Will Ignore This Report

People Unaware and Concerned When It Comes to Space, Finds Landmark Report by Inmarsat, Inmarsat “The world is largely unaware of key activities in space, with Gen-Z twice as likely to associate space with aliens, Star Wars and billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos than older generations, according to the largest representative survey of global consumer attitudes towards space1, unveiled by Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite […]

  • NASA Watch
  • June 29, 2022
Book Review:  "Escaping Gravity" By Lori Garver
Book Review: "Escaping Gravity" By Lori Garver

Book Review: Escaping Gravity: “My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age” By Lori Garver “Lori Garver has a new book out titled “Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age” which explains much of how space exploration and utilization is being done in the third decade of the 21st century. But how did we get here? She explains. She was there. […]

  • NASA Watch
  • June 24, 2022
Does Anyone Know Where The National Space Council Is Hiding?
Does Anyone Know Where The National Space Council Is Hiding?

Keith’s note: It is June 2022. The last time the National Space Council poked its head out through the curtains was December 2021. Six months. Does anyone know what they are doing? If you go to the official National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group (NSpC UAG) page at NASA you are greeted with banner image of the Trump Administration’s UAG. If you go to the membership roster page it lists […]

  • NASA Watch
  • June 1, 2022