Keith’s note: I was just on Bloomberg TV for live coverage of the SpaceX Starship 7 flight. [Audio] They recovered the first stage perfectly but they lost comms near the end of the Starship burn. This was an upgraded version of Starship. So they’ll just try again to get it right.

Keith’s note: According to Blue Origin: “New Glenn safely reached its intended orbit during today’s NG-1 mission, accomplishing our primary objective. New Glenn’s seven BE-4 engines ignited on January 16, 2025, at 2:03 a.m. EST (0703 UTC) from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The second stage is in its final orbit following two successful burns of the BE-3U engines. The Blue Ring Pathfinder is receiving data and performing well.We lost the booster during descent.”

Keith’s note: the impact of the fires in California with regard to the JPL community is now becoming abundantly clear.

• Eaton Fire Leaves California Landscape Charred, NASA: “On the afternoon of January 11, 2025, NASA’s AVIRIS-3 (Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer-3) flew aboard a B200 aircraft over Los Angeles County, where it captured images of several areas affected by wildland fires.”
• Southern California Wildfires Impact Caltech Community, Caltech: “More than 250 individuals and families across campus and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have lost their homes to the fires, while more than 1,800 remain temporarily displaced due to evacuation orders; lack of working power, gas, and/or safe water; and other circumstances. … The Caltech and JPL Disaster Relief Fund, which was launched Friday, January 10, has already received more than $2 million in commitments from more than 2,000 donors.”
• Over 200 NASA JPL, Caltech employees lose homes from Los Angeles wildfires, Fox Weather: “Los Angeles wildfires are devastating all industries in Southern California, including NASA and Caltech faculty and staff – the hard-working minds behind key space exploration research and technology.”

Keith’s note: FYI here’s a list of the “Plum Book” positions – Biden Administration political appointees at NASA. A few of them are rather well off. Let’s see who remains in their positions and who gets reassigned – or fired. And stay tuned for Schedule F!

Keith’s note: In order to make sure that no one outside of the DC space bubble knows what is going on with the Federal government and space commerce, this conference will not be recorded or webcast by FAA, or NASA, or the Commercial Spaceflight Federation – or anyone. Meanwhile Blue Origin and SpaceX are launching massive commercially-developed launch vehicles. Go figure.

Keith’s note: According to NASA “Carrying science and tech on Firefly Aerospace’s first CLPS or Commercial Lunar Payload Services flight for NASA, Blue Ghost Mission 1 launched at 1:11 a.m. EST aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The company is targeting a lunar landing on Sunday, March 2.”

Keith’s note: According to “Trump team is questioning civil servants at National Security Council about commitment to his agenda” on AP: “Incoming senior Trump administration officials have begun questioning career civil servants who work on the White House National Security Council about who they voted for in the 2024 election, their political contributions and whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump’s team, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.”

Keith’s note: like everyone else I stayed up to watch the New Glenn launch and did some TV talking head time too. Here’s the audio from Deutsche Welle prior to the launch scrub. I was going to be on BBC World too for post-launch coverage but then the delays changed that. Weather is going to be pacing the next launch attempt apparently. Stay tuned. [Audio]

Keith’s note: I am posting this piece by Fredrik Jonsson (video link below) as an example of what millions of people can now do with tools on their personal computers. At once realistic and fictitious – and yet sublime and majestic – these tools now allow one’s imagination to go wild. What is often lacking is a strong narrative – a message. Instead we get vibes and memes.

Team SMD: JPL update. The Eaton Fire remains 0% contained although fire activity in the vicinity of JPL has reduced somewhat. No reports of physical harm to any employees or family members. However it appears that about 150 JPL staff have lost their homes, and this number will likely continue to increase as fires continue and more insight into damage becomes known. Over 1000 JPLers remain under mandatory evacuation orders.

Keith’s note: JPL and CalTech have been able to set up a disaster relief fund for those affected by the devastating fires in southern California. Go to Caltech JPL Relief Fund

According to NASA SMD AA Nicky Fox: “The past several months have seen several changes in the leadership of the NASA’s Planetary Science Division (PSD) and I want to provide an update on how we are supporting this community, now and into the future. This update is lengthy, but important for everyone in the planetary science community.” Full memo

Laurie Leshin – @LaurieofMars – “JPL is closed except for emergency personnel. No fire damage so far (some wind damage) but it is very close to the lab. Hundreds of JPLers have been evacuated from their homes & many have lost homes. Special thx to our emergency crews. Pls keep us in your thoughts & stay safe.”

Keith’s note: According to NASA: “To maximize chances of successfully bringing the first Martian rock and sediment samples to Earth for the benefit of humanity, NASA announced Tuesday a new approach to its Mars Sample Return Program. The agency will simultaneously pursue two landing architectures, or strategic plans, during formulation, encouraging competition and innovation, as well as cost and schedule savings. NASA plans to later select a single path forward for the program, which aims to better understand the mysteries of the universe, and to help determine whether the Red Planet ever hosted life. NASA is expected to confirm the program – and its design – in the second half of 2026.” More information on sample return.

Keith’s note: When it comes to NASA Transition Teams etc. the names you often hear floated are floated by the same people being named. In reality the people with the most influence often have the best self-discipline and remain low key. As the old saying goes “Those who speak do not know. Those who know do not speak”. It is also important to separate those people (especially the self-identified) who have an axe to grind or scores to settle from those who actually want to help NASA get even better. It is always easier to destroy than to build. Seek out the builders. This has happened before. And it will happen again. See BidenSpace, TrumpSpace, Transition for the last iterations of this activity.

Keith’s note: Last night I spoke with Al Jazeera English about a recent piece of space debris that landed in Kenya and the broader issue of space debris. [audio]

Keith’s note: As was to be expected, the right wing, 50+ year-old, white male space bro fringe chooses the death of President Jimmy Carter to post up manner of insulting jabs and personal grievances. Carter set a humble, nearly half-century long, humanitarian standard for a post-presidency that will be tough for other presidents to ever match. Beati pacifici. You done good Jimmy.

Keith’s note: President Jimmy carter has died. I posted this a few months ago. Carter set an example of how a former President should conduct themselves. No one has yet to come close to the example he has set. Centenarian Jimmy Carter’s Interstellar Message “Many younger people are unaware of the fact that Carter wrote a letter that is on board both Voyager spacecraft now traversing interstellar space – probably one of the longest messages a human ever sent to the stars.” Ad Astra

Keith’s note: According to a Blue origin posting: “New Glenn successfully completed an integrated launch vehicle hotfire test today, the final major milestone on our road to first flight. NG-1 will carry a Blue Ring Pathfinder as its first manifested payload and will launch from Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, FL.” Social media postings (as yet unconfirmed) cite a 6 January 2025 launch date target (again, unconfirmed). Soon NASA’s SLS will have two immense rockets that can out-compete it in terms of cost, performance, flight rate, and ability to be adapted and revised. And these rockets were built from scratch using 21st century experience and concepts – not a congressionally-mandated shotgun marriage of 1970s, 1980s, and early 2000’s ideas and rocket parts. Stay tuned.

Keith’s note: I was on Deutsche Welle tonight just after 6:00 pm EST to talk about Parker Solar Probe’s close encounter with our sun [Audio] See video below. I pre-taped a segment for CNN’s Christmas show which aired on Wednesday [Audio]. Update: I was on DW again on Friday to talk about Parker Solar Probe phoning home [Audio] See video below.