Keith’s note: This message from Janet Petro was issued today: I’m pleased to share that Jaclyn (Jackie) Jester has been selected as NASA’s deputy chief of staff, where she will help lead the coordination and execution of initiatives, programs, and policies for the administrator and agency leadership.

Keith’s note: I spent several hours at NASA HQ this morning at the protest event. By the time left around 10:00 am there were around 100 people there. Lots of cars honking, cheering, and loads of hand made signs that mostly focused on cuts being made to NASA’s budget – specifically to NASA’s Science activities. The crowd was friendly, courteous, with no trouble makers and minimal evidence of any security. While these events are often limited in their reach anyone inside of NASA HQ or arriving at work saw clear evidence that there are people from GSFC and HQ that are willing to take a public – and loud – stance on this issue. The one Trump sign quickly disappeared with a overall mostly non-partisan focus on cuts to NASA and how Congress might fix that. Kudos to these folks.

Keith’s note: With regard today’s protest event at NASA Headquarters, I simply do not understand why the Planetary Society (and all those other advocacy and industry groups) totally avoided even a mere mention of this event. You would think that some sort of tip of the hat toward active citizen involvement would be worthy of mention. A few weeks ago Planetary Society had a petition that got “20,787 signatures from around the world” and delivered them to some office in Congress. That’s nice – but it is a little weird that they are mounting an effort with non-US signatories when the folks on Capitol Hill only deal with their actual American constituents’ interests. Also, you’d think that the whole notion of a “rising tide lift all boats” or “united we stand, divided we fall” might occur to the Planetary Society folks. Instead they try and paint themselves an anointed savior and then only when it comes to a part of NASA’s budget – not all of it. This budget cut is an issue that affects all corners of the space sector in America – and the impact that this has on all Americans – not just a portion thereof.

Keith’s note: NASA Associate Administrators & Center Directors are told by the Acting Administrator to get more people to quit. Non-compliance by CDs/AAs will lead to their firing. And yes, there will be RIFs. Monday’s protest is a start. So, take Janet Petro’s advice: Embrace The Challenge – show them you won’t take this sitting down. Be safe.

Keith’s note: As noted last week there will be a protest outside of NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC from 7:00-11:00 am EDT on Monday, 30 June 2025. Information about the event can be found here. This event has obtained a formal permit from Metro DC Police. The event is endorsed by the Goddard Engineers, Scientists, and Technicians Association (GESTA). But NASA HQ management is not happy about this. This event is not endorsed by and does not represent the views of NASA or any employer doing business with NASA. But you would be wise to be aware of your surroundings and who may be watching you. The employee union is spreading in accurate information by mentioning the word “strike” – which this is not – and no one has ever said it was. Here is what the organizers, NASA employees union, NASA management, and the NASA HQ union says: (More below)

Keith’s note: HQ-NASA-INC sent this out at 3:04 PM edt today about the demonstration at NASA HQ On monday: “NASA Headquarters Team, A demonstration is scheduled to take place outside NASA Headquarters from 7 to 11 a.m. EDT on Monday, June 30. The demonstration is permitted by the Metro DC Police.

Keith’s note: As of 4:07 pm EDT has 1,604 people taking voluntary separation. The 9th floor has been pushing Center Directors, Directorate AAs, etc. to get more people to quit – a lot more – over 3,000+ more.

Thank you to everyone who tuned in for this week’s agency town hall. More than 32,000 of you watched through townhall.nasa.gov – and that doesn’t include those who gathered in auditoriums and conference rooms to watch together. A big thanks to our Office of the Chief Information Officer for putting key measures in place to ensure we stayed online and uninterrupted from start to finish.  Keith’s note: here is the audio from the Town hall event – note that although the topic of RIF was frequently asked, Janet Petro makes zero mention of that word or statements that she and her staff made in this sanitized version of the event. Instead it is all about “voluntary workforce shaping”.

Keith’s note: I get this on my watch multiple times a day. My heart sinks each time. When people at NASA hear you say “Embrace The Challenge” Janet, they do. They quit.

Keith’s note: NASA Won two an Emmy award last night at the 46th News and Documentary Emmy Awards but NASA.gov and @NASA have said nothing about this. There was even a big NASDAQ banner on Time Square. NASA OCOMM and PAO ignores its own great stuff. Let’s not tell anyone how Great NASA is in Space etc. Update: they finally mentioned it on Twitter a full day after the award event. But still nothing on NASA.gov – But wait – its not mentioned on NASA’s home page – the link on the Twitter post is from May 2025 about nominations. Really NASA, why is it so hard to cheer on your own accomplishments in a timely fashion?

• Outstanding Live News Special “2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA” (NASA+)

Keith’s note: Last week there was a NASA budget cut protest rally at NASA Glenn in Cleveland. (News story). Now there will be a NASA budget protest event at NASA HQ in Washington, DC next Monday from 7-11 am. (this graphic is their official poster). This event has a formal permit with Metro DC Police. Organizers will not prevent or dissuade anyone from entering HQ but will raise awareness about NASA budget cuts. More information here: https://sites.google.com/view/nasa-needs-help. Embrace The Challenge. More below:

Keith’s note: I have heard from 6 senior people today that RIFs at NASA are openly discussed – now – as a distinct possibility. Indeed NASA management is being told to urge more people to leave in advance. Casey, Janet, Vanessa et al are playing with semantics as they did today at the Town Hall when they try and convince you otherwise. NASA Needs at least 3,000+ more people to be gone according to existing downsizing plans. Be prepared.

Keith’s note: I witnessed some utterly insane, idiotic, and foolish nonsense at NASA today – some in full view – a lot of it behind the scenes. Time to get back to the book I am reading – “No Picnic on Mt Kenya” which is about 3 Italian soldiers who broke out of a British POW camp during WWII in Africa to climb Mt Kenya – because why not – and then they went back to the camp. Crazy is my north star right now. Oh yes: Readers from 1996 era NASA RIF Watch may remember this image. This is what happens when you take out too many vital parts of a space thing. Or a space agency.

Keith’s note: Mike Witt, NASA’s Senior Agency Information Security Officer (SAISO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Cybersecurity and Privacy is leaving the agency shortly. Best wishes, Mike.

Keith’s note: Here is audio from today’s @NASA Town Hall. Speakers:

• Janet Petro, Acting NASA Administrator
• Brian Hughes, NASA Chief of Staff
• Vanessa Wyche, Acting NASA Associate Administrator
• Casey Swails, Deputy Associate Administrator

John R. Casani, a visionary engineer who served a central role in many of NASA’s historic deep space missions, died on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at the age of 92. He was preceded in death by his wife of 39 years, Lynn Casani, in 2008 and is survived by five sons and their families.

Keith’s note: Only NASA employees can listen it. I hope someone thinks to record the audio and post it somewhere 😉 – Here’s the memo: “Join NASA leadership for an agencywide town hall where we will discuss important updates about our current direction, agency accomplishments, and key next steps. As always, there will be time for Q&A at the end of the event. Please submit questions in advance by scanning the QR code or clicking here. Your participation is highly valued as we continue moving forward. To submit questions, scan the QR code or click here.“ MORE BELOW.

Keith’s note: here we go again. A new GAO report: Cybersecurity: NASA Needs to Fully Implement Risk Management is out. Yawn. Once a year GAO, NASA OIG, or some other authoritative body does a review of NASA IT security and they come back and say that NASA is dragging its feet and not dealing with the ever-growing plethora of cyber events that confront us all. NASA writes a letter back saying yea, we’re sorry, I guess you are right but we have an action item to look into this. See you next year. Here are some examples of the past few years: (More below)

Keith’s note: NASA has a Planetary Defense Program. They want to find asteroids that might pose a risk before they pose a threat. The other day the Vera Rubin Observatory released imagery of a variety of objects including 2,104 previously unknown asteroids discovered in just a few hours by this new instrument. NASA has ignored the Rubin observatory’s debut altogether while the rest of the world stopped to pay attention. This new NASA OIG report NASA’s Implementation and Management of Its Planetary Defense Strategy mentions Rubin as an option but does not ding the Planetary Defense Program for ignoring Rubin. Why is that? More below.

Keith’s note: I was just on Deutsche Welle TV talking about the new imagery from Vera Rubin Observatory [Audio]. Video below.