Keith’s note: Forget about all those Decadal science plans. The future of NASA and all American space activities will be forced into compliance with Project 2025 and implemented with the loyalty and political ideology screening contained within Schedule F.

Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen 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:

• 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

Keith’s note: I appeared on CGTN tonight to talk about the launch of Shenzhou-19 and what the crews will be doing on China’s Tiangong space station. [Audio]

Keith’s note: According to Bob Jacobs (@BNJacobs) at NASA PAO: “After 25 years of public service, I have decided to retire from NASA. If I enjoyed any success, it was because of the team around me. Yes, I am looking forward to a new career challenge.” Bob’s contributions to NASA are immense and far too numerous to mention. 99% of what he did for the agency was without attribution and often involved diving catches behind the scenes. Some of the coolest things NASA talked about were the direct result of his steadfast dedication to the agency – often when others did not want to expend the energy to fix things and do them the right way. My only concern is where his small army (I am not exaggerating) of ‘Lost In Space’ robots that have guarded his office will end up – hopefully not homeless. I wish Bob all the best now that he is returning to the real world. Ad Astra.

Keith’s note: I’m sorry but I am tired of all this ignorant crap from Trump.

Keith’s note: NASA put out a report NASA’s Economic Impact Report for fiscal year (FY) 2023. In addition to its data rich/ lousy common language construction (see A Nice NASA Economic Impact Report By / For Wonks) NASA is not really spending much effort to tell people about it. In addition to the report there are additional data files and one PDF file for every state (but nothing for Puerto Rico). But other than some info from GSFC, KSC, and Armstrong, NASA PAO seems to have ignored its own websites and not sent out any media advisories or press releases relevant to local state economic impacts (no mention here) just their main release and a KSC link. NASA has once again demonstrated that it is utterly clueless and bereft of strategic thought when it comes to demonstrating its value and relevance to its stakeholders, taxpayers, and its puppet masters in DC. This is going to come back and bite the agency. It is downright embarrassing that the same agency that can look outward and back at the beginning of time and reprogram 50 year old spacecraft in interstellar space can’t explain itself to the people that pay for the whole space thing. More snarky detail below.

Keith’s note: According to this new report New Report Shows NASA’s $75.6 Billion Boost to US Economy “NASA highlighted how its Moon to Mars activities, climate change research and technology development, and other projects generated more than $75.6 billion in economic output across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in fiscal year 2023. … Combined, NASA’s missions supported 304,803 jobs nationwide, and generated an estimated $9.5 billion in federal, state, and local taxes throughout the United States. The study found NASA’s Moon to Mars activities generated more than $23.8 billion in total economic output and supported an estimated 96,479 jobs nationwide. For investments in climate research and technology, the agency’s activities generated more than $7.9 billion in total economic output and supported an estimated 32,900 jobs in the U.S.” Full report

• Great news. Everyone should know by now that NASA has a broad impact in terms of economic factors. It also has a great impact on education, inspiration and serves as a potent source of soft power globally. Alas, the NASA people who generated this report, the people who run education and public outreach, and the people who run international relations at NASA will not make the best use of this report – or each other’s metrics. The report has lots of numbers. How about some real world stories and metrics that are meaningful to actual human taxpayers, citizens, students etc. – things that they can wrap their minds around when it comes to their daily lives, dreams, futures, and finances? This is a fine report but it was written by econometrics wonks and is only relevant to other econometrics wonks – not real people. If you ask NASA Public Affairs about real world impacts of this report they will be clueless and simply direct you back to the report. I’d like to know:
• How does this economic news affect the communities where the money is spent? [Give examples of specific, identifiable communities and impact that NASA spending has had]
• How were these economic metrics generated and how do they map NASA’s impact when compared to other agencies? [Does DoD spend more/less?; how does this compare to local non-space industries?]
• How do these efforts find synergy in the Artemis Accord signatories? [NASA Space Apps and other OIIR activities have an impact, yes? So .. what is it and how does it map against various NASA agreements and collaborations and where might there be new opportunities?]
• What impact does this pervasive NASA spending and participation affect career choices for young people?[Is there a correlation between spending in a locality and the number of students choosing space science and engineering and allied fields?]
• How do the communities where this money is being spent get to interact directly with NASA missions (other than communities with large NASA centers)? [How many ISS student interactions, town halls, etc. are done and where? what areas have the largest number of people’s names on space missions, mailing list memberships?]
• How does the economic news in this report find its way into national, regional, and home town media stories [why not create a publicly available, updated list of press citations so we can all see our tax dollars at work while NASA does all of its amazing things?]

Keith’s note: I was just on Alhurra TV (a VOA Arabic language network) talk about space weather and the solar maximum period that has been reached by our sun. More info from NASA. Also, there is an Internet rumor that keeps popping up that says that NASA issued a scary warning that all the Internet could go out. Well, that popped up in March and Snopes et al knocked it down. But it has come back. So I did my best to place things back into context. Just remember: I am being translated into and out of Arabic in real time so, as a former interpreter myself (ASL), I adopt a way of talking that makes it easier for the translator to convert technical terms and concepts into things that a larger audience – globally – can better understand. [Audio]

Keith’s note: this editorial by Mike Bloomberg “NASA’s $100 Billion Moon Mission Is Going Nowhere“ certainly does not mince words. “A celestial irony is that none of this is necessary. A reusable SpaceX Starship will very likely be able to carry cargo and robots directly to the moon – no SLS, Orion, Gateway, Block 1B or ML-2 required – at a small fraction of the cost. Its successful landing of the Starship booster was a breakthrough that demonstrated how far beyond NASA it is moving.Meanwhile, NASA is canceling or postponing promising scientific programs – including the Veritas mission to Venus; the Viper lunar rover; and the NEO Surveyor telescope, intended to scan the solar system for hazardous asteroids – as Artemis consumes ever more of its budget. Taxpayers and Congress should be asking: What on Earth are we doing? And the next president should be held accountable for answers.”

“The program has made progress, but the Artemis schedule poses challenges. Artemis II and III launches (planned for September 2025 and 2026, respectively): EGS is making progress refurbishing the Mobile Launcher 1 – the structure used to transport and launch key systems – and modifying elements to support crew during these missions. New capabilities are taking longer than planned, and the program has only limited time to address potential issues. Artemis IV launch (planned for September 2028): EGS has made some progress toward this mission, such as modifying facilities to accommodate processing and launching the larger Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1B launch vehicle. However, much work remains, some of which cannot start until after the Artemis III launch.” Full report NASA Artemis Missions: Exploration Ground Systems Program Could Strengthen Schedule Decisions

Keith’s note: Payload separation and telemetry AOS for the Europa Clipper Astrobiology expedition confirmed. Europa Clipper has begun its travels across the inner solar system for gravity assists and then outward to the Jovian system and the icy covered ocean world of Europa to search for habitable conditions that might support life. If you are a SciFi fan you may recognize this movie poster parody. Life Looks For Life. Vita quaerit vitae. Update: I was just on Deutsche Welle talking about the Europa Clipper mission – as well as ESA’s Juice mission – and how they will work in tandem exploring the icy worlds that orbit Jupiter – not unlike the polar expeditions of Earth a century ago. Fun fact: these two spacecraft are nearly the same size as the first ships that humans used to explore the arctic and antarctic. [Audio].

Keith’s note: the SpaceX Starship made an apparently flawless launch and return landing this morning – a landing that included being caught by two giant robotic arms at its launch pad – all while its upper stage – the Starship has been placed in its desired orbit. Update: I spoke with Deutsche Welle after the flight about the mission and its significance. [Audio]

Keith’s note: NASA just turned 66. Jimmy Carter just turned 100. Too bad NASA does not remember its own past – a past currently being sent to the stars.

Keith’s note: I was just on the Scripps News “Morning Rush” program talking about Earth’s new (temporary) Mini-moon 2024 PT5. Someone needs to give it a name. [Audio]

Keith’s note: According to a NASA OIG report NASA’s Management of Risks to Sustaining ISS Operations through 2030: “After more than a decade of effort, NASA and its partners continue to develop a transition and deorbit plan to prevent an operations gap in LEO and ensure a safe and controlled deorbit of the ISS. Russia has not committed to ISS operations through 2030, which includes the deorbit plan and timeline. Without commitment from Russia to the current deorbit plan, the ability to conduct a controlled deorbit is unclear. In June 2024, NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX to develop the U.S. deorbit vehicle to execute the controlled deorbit of the ISS in 2031. Nonetheless, the uncertainty of commercial LEO destination-readiness, limited budget availability, and the potential delay in availability of the U.S. deorbit vehicle adds more schedule challenges and risks to NASA’s 2031 deorbit plan.”

Keith’s note: according to the NASA OIG: “Much of NASA’s RPT infrastructure is aging and requires significant funding to maintain. Meanwhile, the landscape for RPT is changing. Increased commercialization in the space industry has lessened demand for NASA’s large-scale RPT facilities. NASA is also transferring some responsibility for payload delivery to commercial partners, such as in the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. These trends lead to NASA’s RPT stands sitting unused more often. From fiscal year (FY) 2022 to 2026, the percentage of NASA test stand capabilities in active use is projected to decrease from 47 percent to 26 percent. Of the 10 test stands projected for use in FY 2025, five are being leased to commercial entities. Five of the Program’s test stands are in mothball or demolition status, and Stennis’s A-2 and A-3 test stands sat idle for nearly a decade before being leased to external customers. In addition to decreased demand, the RPT Program is facing a flat budget, with enough funding to maintain core staff and facilities, but insufficient funding to address major maintenance projects.” Full report: NASA’s Rocket Propulsion Test Program

Keith’s note: According to NASA SMD there will be a Town Hall for Planetary Science Research Programs on Oct 15. (official email below) “In advance of and during the webinar questions may be submitted and upvoted on at:
https://nasa.cnf.io/sessions/qfp6/#!/dashboard “ So … all of you out there concerned about planetary and space science missions – vote, add your comments etc. If you are afraid of things being traced back to you – use a private phone or home computer. You pay for this space program. Time to provide some feedback. Ad Astra y’all.

Keith’s note: According to a press release “Science Committee Leaders Commend House Passage of NASA Reauthorization“: “Today, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee leaders praised the House passage of H.R. 8958, the NASA Reauthorization Act of 2024. This bipartisan legislation reaffirms our commitment to leading global space and science endeavors and emphasizes the importance of commercial partnerships and international collaboration in advancing space exploration and scientific research. … Read the bill’s Fact Sheet and Section by Section.”

Keith’s note: I was on BBC World News [Audio], Deutsche Welle [Audio], and CGTN [Audio] talking about the Polaris Dawn EVA. During my BBC and DW interviews I compared and contrasted spacewalks in the 1960s and today as well as NASA spacesuits and new commercial space suits. I used one of those spongy astronaut things NASA gives away at meetings but I added a USB-C cable to demonstrate the tether used by the Polaris crew. If you are of a certain age and watched Gemini astronauts doing EVAs live on TV, then you may recognize the orange-visored helmet that my little astronaut is wearing. Update: After the return of Polaris Dawn I spoke with Deutsche Welle Sunday morning [Audio] and then again in the evening [Audio]. I also spoke with Alhurra [Audio] (videos below)

[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.