Keith’s note: Hooray! There is a new AI.gov website. And it has an Action Plan page – and a 28 page “Winning the Race AMERICA’S AI ACTION PLAN” PDF. NSF, NIST and other agencies are mentioned. But other than a throw-away line “Just like we won the space race” on the first page there is no mention of NASA, space exploration, etc. Oh well.

Keith’s note: According to a media advisory sent out on 22 July by NASA HQ “Senegal will sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 24, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Brian Hughes, NASA chief of staff, will host Maram Kairé, director general of the Senegalese space agency (ASES), and Abdoul Wahab Haidara, ambassador of Senegal to the United States, along with other officials from Senegal and the U.S. Department of State.” Why is NASA chief of staff Brian Hughes the senior official hosting this event? I thought Sean Duffy was Acting NASA Administrator? And Acting NASA Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche and NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails, who would seem to out-rank Hughes, still work there, yes? This screen grab from last month’s NASA Town Hall shows a seating arrangement that speaks volumes in terms of who runs the show at NASA right now.

Keith’s note: This note was just sent to NASA employees by Vanessa Wyche: Leadership Announcement: OLIA: I am happy to share Joel Graham has joined NASA as the associate administrator for the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at NASA Headquarters in Washington. In this role, Joel will lead and coordinate all communications with the U.S. Congress and serve as a senior advisor to agency leadership on legislative matters.

Keith’s note: NASA just issued a standard paperwork thing in the Federal Register today. It is a note about some questionnaire they want people to fill out egarding special NASA events that they went to. Sounds innocent enough and it is good that NASA would want feedback. Except NASA states that they are only worried about less than 0.01% of the American public and that they are going to spend more than one government employee’s annual hours looking at an expected 650 responses? What about looking into what the rest of the nation thinks about how ‘Great’ NASA is or should be? (more below)

Keith’s note: according to this Reuters article: “NASA Chief of Staff Brian Hughes speaking at the same town hall, agreed, saying it would “probably be considered irresponsible” to wait for the congressional budget process. The letter added that Hughes recently ordered NASA science programs targeted for cancellation in Trump’s budget request to stop issuing press releases celebrating new scientific results and achievements.” In addition, senior staff at recent meetings at NASA with Hughes have been told not to expect any help from Congress in pushing back against the plan embodied in the President’s FY 2026 Budget Request i.e. multiple mission cancellations and large personnel layoffs. This is in direct contrast to an offer made last week to senior NASA staff by Acting Interim Administrator Duffy to listen to – and then consider – pushing for budget increases (restoration) for items planned for deletion – if a solid case can be made. And today the “Voyager Declaration”, signed by many NASA employees complaint about a variety of unpopular actions, certainly made national news. Word has it that Hughes and his staff were not at all pleased by this or the news coverage – especially CNN’s article. Meanwhile, consolidation of and deletion of various NASA social media accounts continues. Of course this has a side benefit of allowing those missions now scheduled to go away to not have any mention made of whatever scientific results they are still quite capable of providing. This of course hastens the ability for them to just fade away.

Keith’s note: the following letter was just sent out by NASA GSFC Director Makenzie B. Lystrup: “Dear colleagues, After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision that it is time for me to step aside as Director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. As mentioned in the official announcement, my last day will be August 1, after which the wonderfully capable Cynthia Simmons, currently Deputy Center Director, will serve as Acting Center Director.

Keith’s note: Vanessa Wyche Acting NASA Associate Administrator just sent this out: “NASA Team Members, Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, announced that she will leave NASA, effective Friday, Aug. 1.

Keith’s note: According to “CBS News poll: Most Americans favor U.S. returning to moon, going to Mars“: “There is a lot of public favor for the idea of the U.S. returning to the moon, and also for eventually going to Mars. About two-thirds do, while a third does not. Younger Americans who are not old enough to remember the first moon landing are especially in favor, perhaps looking forward to seeing that exploration in their lifetimes. These views generally cut across ideological and party lines, as well.”

Keith’s note: There is a new, rather detailed and annotated “Statement of Solidarity and Support” out called “The NASA Voyager Declaration“ regarding the current state of affairs at NASA. It is modeled after similar efforts by employees at EPA, NIH, and elsewhere within the Federal government. It opens with: “Dear Interim Administrator Duffy, In light of your recent appointment as Interim NASA Administrator, we bring to your attention recent policies that have or threaten to waste public resources, compromise human safety, weaken national security, and undermine the core NASA mission. We, the signatories of this letter, dissent from these policies, and raise these concerns because we believe strongly in the importance of NASA’s mission, which we are dedicated to uphold.” More.

Keith’s Note: Nice of NASA HQ to post a picture in the background from Sean Duffy’s earlier career 😉 . According to a tweet by @SecDuffyNASA “Wrapping up my day at @NASA – spoke with the smart leaders of our mission directorates. We agree- America MUST dominate space and our critical moon mission, #ARTEMIS, must be as known & supported by America just as Apollo was! It’s a race to the moon. Clock is ticking. I’m fired up and ready to launch!” 🚀📷🔥

Last week, President Trump announced Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy will serve as NASA’s next acting administrator. Since then, my focus has been on ensuring a smooth transition. I’m also pleased to share I’ll be returning home to Kennedy Space Center as its center director – rejoining my colleagues and continuing our vital work, hand in hand with our new NASA leadership to propel our ambitious goals.

Keith’s note: this popped out of the White House on Thursday. You may recall the earlier Schedule F thing “that will make it easier to remove federal employees it believes are undercutting President Trump’s agenda.” Now there is Schedule G which involved bringing in a new type of political/policy employee for the duration of an Administration only. Here is the stated rationale for this new classification: “Creating Schedule G fills this gap and facilitates appointments of non-career federal employees who will serve temporarily and implement the policy agenda prescribed by the American people through our elections. This will improve operations, particularly in agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, by streamlining appointments for key policy roles.”